Hard Light
by weezer42
Summary: Stabby & Cick: Starts with Abby's POV of the last scene and afterwards. Subsequent chapters deal with the questions raised by 'where's Claudia'.
1. Hard Light

31/8/07

Title: Hard Light

Author: squeezynz

Spoiler: Season One/Episode Six

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Abby's view of the final scene, and after. Her hero has feet of clay.

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They were all tense, strung out like beads on a wire, no-one touching, no-one looking at anything but the anomaly. After the phone call announcing that the dead future predator was a male, Stephen had been preoccupied with his thoughts, shutting everyone and everything out, only his eyes revealing his worry when he glanced repeatedly at the flickering portal into the past. Even Connor was uncharacteristically quiet, standing perfectly still and not fidgeting with his lap top or any of the other gadgets laying about. He'd been so ever since the incident in the carpark, not even the encounter with the predator and it's young enough to stir him into his usual round of wisecracks and endless flow of useful and useless trivia. Ryan's men, left behind to guard them, were equally on alert, all eyes trained on the sparkling doorway to the past, Sir James Lester adopting a bored expression to hide his own uneasiness.

Abby looked around at the people standing about and felt that someone was missing, but couldn't put her finger on who, her brows pulling together in a frown as she tried to recall a name and face of who wasn't there, who usually was. Evan as she opened her mouth to ask Connor about it, Nick stepped back through the anomaly, a stricken look on his craggy features. Lester instantly asked the question on everyone's lips.

"What happened? Did you find the anomaly?

Before an answer could be given Helen Cutter walked through the sparkling portal and stood just behind her husband. Abby could see Professor Cutter draw in a breath before he spoke, his eyes skimming over everyone but not lingering.

"Captain Ryan didn't make it and all his men are dead."

The forest floor, which had been quiet enough before suddenly became silent as everyone absorbed the shock of what he was saying. Abby dimly heard him continue.

"Whatever happens, nobody goes back through."

Beside him, Helen gave him a small smile.

"Well I'm sorry to break your new rule so soon Nick, but...um...I'm not staying."

With almost a snarl, Nick turned to face her.

"Well what'd you come back through for?"

"Oh...just a little unfinished business." Turning away from her husband, Helen Cutter stared pointedly at Stephen Hart who, for his part, remained silent, his eyes wary, his stance rigid. Nick turned his head and stared questioningly at his lab partner for the past eight year, his eyes wide as an unwarranted suspicion started to worm it's way into his head.

Abby stood like a statue and watched the drama between all three. She had seen the glance sent Stephen's way just before Helen stepped through the anomaly earlier, she'd also noted that Stephen hadn't done more than stare back, a prickle of awareness trickling down Abby's back as if forewarning the confrontation now being played out in front of a captive audience. Like Nick, Abby had a fair idea of what was about to be said, despite never once seeing anything between Stephen or Helen to suggest it was remotely plausible. She couldn't explain why, but she just knew there was a history that no one knew about and never discussed. Abby suddenly realised that despite the months they had all worked together, they knew very little about each other. Helen was speaking again and Abby was intently interested in what she had to say.

"You see Nick, it was just one of those things. I was lonely and you didn't seem to care about me...and Stephen was so sweet..." Helen let her voice trail off, mischief making her eyes dance. Despite the sudden lance of pain through her at having her worst fears confirmed, Abby wanted to march up to Helen and slap the smirk off her face. Helen's bombshell had been delivered with perfect pitch and timing, the effect instant and irreparable. Nick looked pole-axed, his eyes wide and disbelieving as he stared back at an equally distressed Stephen. Connor turned his head left and right, hardly knowing where to look, while Lester looked on tight lipped and uncomfortable. Abby focused on Helen.

"...and attentive." Now she was deliberately twisting the knife, Stephen clenching his hands into fists and biting out, "shut up Helen." But his best friends wife hadn't finished with them yet.

"Oh, you mean you never told him?" Pantomiming dismay, Helen smirked in triumph, "oh dear."

Now Abby looked over at Stephen, unable to bear the naked look on Nick's face. Stephen was looking at his friend with pleading eyes, his expression at once both vulnerable and culpable. Abby could almost believe she was seeing the face of the young man who had fallen into Helen's toils all those years ago. She tried to imagine what it had been like. Stephen would have only been in his early twenties, a young graduate being taken on as a laboratory assistant by a man he probably idolised, who had a wife as knowledgeable as her husband and happy to pass on that knowledge to the impressionable student. Abby had to acknowledge that Helen was not an unattractive woman and back then Stephen would have been fired up with all the enthusiasm and passion of youth, the same passion and drive that drew Abby to him now. It was not difficult to see how it could have all been taken advantage of. She heard Sir James speak and shook her head to focus on the next act of the drama.

"What an extremely awkward moment." Abby wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Helen was now homing in for the coup-de-gras. "You see, I don't want to be on my own anymore." She looked pointedly at Stephen before delivering her final blow. Everyone else was also staring at Stephen, wondering at his reaction and maybe also reassessing just how well they really knew him.

Helen had him fixed in her sight and decided to go for the jugular. "You once said you'd do anything for me, if I gave you the chance. Well...here it is. Come with me."

To Abby it was as if the world had narrowed down to just these two people, everyone else no more substantial than ghosts, all watching with breaths held, knowing the end was not going to be pretty, but unable to look away. Stephen looked like he was being eaten from the inside out with acid.

"Don't do this." He pleaded, glancing over to Nick as if begging him to stop her. Nick was still reeling from shock and could only listen along with the rest.

Helen was now standing up close to Stephen, her eyes devouring him. "Falling for one of your students is never a good idea, but um...sometimes these things happen..." She suddenly spun around to face Nick. "You know?"

Abby could almost feel the recoil as Nick absorbed the final thrust of Helen's revenge. His wife was making sure she inflicted the most damage possible. It was a wonder any of them were still standing. Suddenly the focus shifted and it was no longer between Helen and Stephen, now it was between Nick and Stephen, the air crackling with suppressed anger as the Professor rounded on his partner for the last eight years.

"How could you keep that from me, for so many years?" The accusation hung in the air like poison, Stephen approaching his friend and mentor like he was approaching a Tiger at bay.

"There was no point in saying anything. It was a long time ago...in the past."

Unable to allow any chance of reconciliation, Helen butted in. "The past has a habit of coming back these days, doesn't it Nick."

As if unable to bear the sight of them both, Nick swung around and walked a little distance away, his expression shuttered against the pain of Stephen's betrayal. Abby wondered briefly what was hurting the most, Stephen's duplicity or his wifes infidelity. Either blow would be enough to tear a rift in the two men's relationship that Abby thought would be difficult to repair. She looked over at Stephen and almost wanted to rush over and do something to ease the wrenching pain evident on his face. He looked gutted, his chest heaving as if he found it difficult to breath.

"Well? Are you coming?"

Abby stared in disbelief at the woman who had wrought all the emotional carnage. Helen appeared unmoved by the tension, her expressive eyebrow quirked cheekily as she waited for Stephen's answer. Abby saw the mask drop into place on his face, a few steps bringing him close to Helen, the silence of the forest allowing his quiet words to be heard by everyone.

"You know what I'd forgotten Helen? Sometimes you can be a real bitch."

Abby wanted to cheer, wanted him to plant a facer on her smug face. Instead he just reeled away and came back to stand beside Lester, his face stony and unreadable. Helen looked resigned, as if she hadn't really expected him to do otherwise. With a last lingering glance at her husband, who glared at her with wounded eyes, Helen marched back through the anomaly and out of sight.

For a long moment nobody moved, everyone frozen into a tableau of characters, each internally processing what had just happened. Abby briefly tried to sort out the rapid series of shocks they'd all just suffered. Putting the whole Helen episode to one side, Nick had said that Captain Ryan had been killed, along with his men, a shocking enough event without all the angst that followed. Abby hardly had time to think about the Black Op's and how much she'd miss Ryan's solid dependability when Nick suddenly came to life, blurting out a question that took everyone by surprise.

"Where's Claudia?"

For a moment no one said anything, then Sir James, his arms crossed over his chest, answered for them all.

"Claudia?"

"Where's Claudia Brown?" Nick repeated, his stance no longer downtrodden, but bristling with energy. Lester again answered for them all.

"I don't know anyone of that name."

Nick now stared at them as if they'd all gone mad. "No. Come on...where is she?

This time Stephen, looking as confused as they all were, answered.

"Really Nick. Don't know what you're talking about. Never heard of her."

Nick was now getting angry, glaring at everyone and searching behind them for this Claudia person.

"You've been working with her every day for months! Don't tell me you don't know who she is!"

"No idea...s-sorry." Lester stammered, on the back foot but standing his ground as Nick advanced and grabbed the smaller man by the lapels, shaking him like a Terrier. Stephen tried to placate his friend and held out his hands to stop Nick. "...Look..." But Nick ignored him and almost spat in Lester's face while Abby and Connor looked on helplessly.

"Look! Where is she?"

This time is was Connor who spoke up. "Cutter...we don't know her."

Abby felt it was time she added her voice to the fray. "No one knows her!"

Under the overwhelming evidence of denial, Nick let go of Lester and stepped back, glancing around at the glowing anomaly, a look of horror and comprehension dawning on his face.

"Wait. Somethings wrong. This isn't right, somethings gone wrong. Something...somethings happened, somethings changed. We've done something we..." he paused, his expression panicky.

"Something we've done has changed in the past and she's not here anymore!"

Abby felt his panic and wanted to scream, the anomaly starting to expand behind Cutter, the whirling blades of light speeding up. Nick stared back at them all, his eyes wide as something close to rage flashed across his face before being replaced with growing dread. "Oh God."

"Oh my God." Were his last words before the anomaly started to envelop him, the light expanding and excelerating, Stephen lunging forward to grab at Nick's jacket just as the time portal flared into brilliance, both men disappearing from view as the light exploded outwards then shrank away to nothing. The blast had knocked everyone over, Abby seeing spots before her eyes for minutes afterwards. Of Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart, there was no sign they had ever existed.

"Stephen!" Her cry seemed to wrench everyone out of their stupor, the air suddenly filled with the shouts of the remaining Black Op's and James Lester ordering them to search for the missing men. Connor scrambled over to help her up, his face registering shock at what had happened, no ready quip passing his lips as they stood side by side and stared as the empty space that was now dark and silent.

Connor didn't seem to know what to do with himself, standing beside her and shifting from one foot to the other. Abby just stared numbly at the trees, too stunned to react. Lester came up to stand beside them.

"You'd better take her home," he addressed Connor who only nodded, still speechless from the events of the past few minutes. "I'll be in touch if we need you."

That stung Abby out of her frozen state. "You'll be in touch? You'll be in TOUCH!" She knew she was shouting, she knew Connor was hovering at her back making soothing noises, but it was all ignored in the white hot heat of her anger directed at the civil servant standing in front of her. Drawing herself up to her full five foot four, Abby glared at Lester, daring him to patronise her again. "I'm not leaving here. Stephen and Cutter are lost on the other side of the anomaly...an anomaly that could appear at any time..."

"anywhere..." Lester finished for her, taking the wind out of her sails. "Yes I know. I will be posting men here in the forest to keep watch for the next event, and we can only hope that Professor Cutter is able to survive until that happens. In the meantime, there is nothing you can do here but get in the way. If an anomaly appears, we will call you both. Satisfied?"

"No..."Abby snarled, unable to stop herself. Connor slipped between her and Lester, his hands held up in a placating gesture.

"We'd really appreciate that, Sir Lester...wouldn't we Abby? I'll take good care of her...we'll be off now, sir...um..." Connor started to steer Abby away from the Home Office man, eager to get her away from the site of so many traumatic events. "We'll see you in the office...er...Monday?"

Sir James merely nodded, turning his back as soon as Connor and Abby were far enough away to no longer be of importance.

Abby was furious, hurt and furious to be dismissed. Lashing out she caught Connor a fist to his ear, making the young man yelp and leap back.

"Watch it Abby...I'm only following orders!"

"Grrrrrrrr!" Barring her teeth, she swung around on her heel and marched towards where the cars were parked, making a beeline for the silver Hilux and yanking the driver's door open. Connor had trotted along after her but now stood hesitant behind her.

"Er...I think Cutter had the car keys," he pointed out, receiving a glare in reply.

"I know where Stephen hides the spare. Get in."

"Don't you think...um..maybe I should..."

"No I don't. Get in or be left behind."

Quite sure that in her present mood she'd do just that, Connor darted around the front of the vehicle and climbed aboard. The windshield had been repaired in record time but glass still littered the dashboard and carpet, a reminder of the Future Predator's attack.

Abby sat in the drivers seat and twisted the key in the ignition, the engine roaring into life with a satisfying growl. She felt wired and jumpy, her heart still thumpingl, anger buzzing and fizzing in her veins. She didn't know who to be more angry with, Stephen for revealing he was only human after all, not the flawless focus of her fervent desires, but a man with a past that she knew nothing about or Helen Cutter, for being a heartless bitch out to enact revenge on her unsuspecting husband by seducing his protege. She thumped the steering wheel, making Connor flinch in the passenger seat.

"Abby?"

"What?"

"I think the speed limit here abouts is only thirty."

Abby glanced down at the speedo, seeing the needle inching up to the fifty mark. Instantly she took her foot of the accelerator and consciously relaxed her fingers around the steering wheel. Driving the big four by four was a far cry from her tiny mini, the diesel so powerful that even top speed felt like a crawl. Watching the speedo roll back to the road limit she flung Connor a small smile.

"Sorry...wasn't paying attention. I don't think I need a speeding ticket right now, especially as I'd probably assault the traffic cop in the mood I'm in."

"Yeah...not a good idea."

After that conversation was sparse until Abby pulled the silver Toyota up beside the curb outside her flat. Turning the ignition off she slumped over the steering wheel, forehead resting on her hands, and just tried to relax some of the tension out of her. Connor seemed to sense her need for silence and kept mum, staring out of the side window but seeing nothing. At length Abby sat up and clambered out of the cab, Connor behind her.

The flat was humid and stuffy, Rex chirruping from his perch on top of the bookcase as soon as he saw them. Flinging the car keys on a side table, Abby held out her arms and Rex launched himself towards her, circling once before landing inelegantly in her arms. Connor had ambled in behind her and laughed at the bright green lizard, the creature emitting a series of chirps as if asking him where'd he'd been. Abby cooed and stroked Rex, settling herself down on the well stuffed sofa, one leg tucked underneath her. Connor did the same, keeping a few inches between them, his hat following his scarf as he flung them onto the coffee table.

Abby remained absorbed in her pet, Rex lapping up the extra attention.

Connor started to fidget, drumming his fingers against the back of the couch, then crossing and uncrossing his legs.

"Abby?"

"What?"

"About Stephen..."

Abby had started to wonder how long Connor would be able to last without asking that question.

"What about Stephen?"

"Well...it's just...I mean, I'm sorry you had to learn it that way..."

"Learn what, Connor?"

"Well...I mean...that's to say...well..."

"He's turned out to be the lying rat bastard you always thought he was?"

"Um...correct me if I'm wrong, didn't we just find out he's been having an affair with his best friends' wife?"

"He had an affair eight years ago...she's been listed as dead for the rest of the time."

"I suppose so...sure. But...I mean we hardly know anything about him. You saw how completely gob-smacked Cutter was over the whole thing. And talking about Cutter, what was all that rubbish about Claudia Brown?"

"I don't know," she cuddled Rex closer, the reptile struggling to free itself as it tired of the game. Letting the Coelurosauravus go, she watched it scamper across the table and slip to the floor.

"And then there's the whole age thing...I mean, Helen must be at least ten years older than him!"

"More like six...about as many between Stephen and me."

"You know how old he is?"

"Yeah...thirty two."

"Oh. Abby..." Connor gentle whine made her want to turn around and sock him one with a hard cushion.

"Leave it alone would you?" Sitting back, Abby covered her eyes with her fingers and groaned. "Haven't you ever done something when you were young and regretted it?"

"Maybe," Connor hedged, tucking one leg under the other to turn his body towards her. "But you gotta admit, not telling his best mate after all this time is kinda rough."

"No worse than Cutter making sheeps eyes at Claudia all this time, when his wife was still alive!"

The silence after her statement stretched.

"What?"

"I said Claudia, didn't I?"

"You did, I heard you. Who is this Claudia person, and how come I don't know her?"

"I don't know, honestly, I don't. I just...I just know her, but I can't bring a face to mind."

"Weird." Connor shook himself and grimaced. "Creepy. Anyway, I reckon that's why he hasn't married or got a steady girlfriend."

"Who?"

"Stephen."

"God, can't you let that go. Anyway, he does...did have a girlfriend, the germ buster in the Congo...Alicia, or whatever her name was."

"Alison," Connor corrected. "He kept that a deep dark secret too."

"Hardly. Do you go about telling all your private stuff to people you've only known a few months?"

"No...but you'd think..."

"Look. There's lots of things you don't know about me, and I don't know about you...and I'm not about to ask. Of course Stephen has a past, we all do, and he's probably been out there doing stuff we'll never know about."

"There you go..." Connor interrupted, only to have Abby glare at him.

"I'm not about to condem him for something that happened long before I met him, and from the sounds of it, left him carrying a whole ton of baggage that should have stayed safely buried. It's that damn woman's fault, if anybodies!"

"You're determined to give him the benefit of the doubt...even when he tramples all over you!"

"Oh shut up Connor...I'm going to bed!"

Feeling hurt, resentful and still angry, Abby flung herself off the couch and stomped into the kitchen, intent on making herself a decent mug of tea before going to hide in her loft. In truth she didn't know what to feel about Stephen, or Nick or Helen for that matter. It was all so far out of her league she didn't want to know. All she did know was that Stephen and Nick were now lost in the past, or maybe they were sucked into the future, and the rest of them were left behind to sort out the mess. For now, she wanted to nurse her battered heart with a strong cuppa and a good cry.

Tomorrow she'd go back to the University looking for any way of finding them, with or without the help of the Home Office.

Maybe she'd find out who this Claudia Brown was along the way.

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tbc...maybe.


	2. Harsh Light

30/8/07

Title: Harsh Light

Author: Squeezynz

Life on the other side of the anomaly for Stephen and Nick

while Abby is given an assignment she can't refuse.

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Heat was the first thing he felt on his slow return to consciousness. Heat then light, the intensity burning through his eyelids even as he noted his skin prickling from the force of the sun's rays. Before moving he cautiously tested his limbs, finding all of them intact and only a little stiff, grit sifting through his fingers as he attempted to roll onto his knees. Dizziness made him pause and groan, nausea roiling in his gut as he struggled to his feet. Squinting he stared out over the unforgiving landscape. He was surrounded by steep scree slopes, the sky a super heated blue, cloudless and brutal. As he slowly turned he saw something a little distance off.

Staggering in the slippery grit, Professor Nick Cutter made his slow way down and across the slope, the something becoming recognisable as his lab tech and long time friend Stephen Hart laying face down in the dirt. Small avalanches of scree fell away from his footfalls, Nick careful to move so that he didn't start a full scale slip, reaching Stephen and crouching down to feel for a pulse. Again the nausea hit him, making him swallow hard while his fingers registered a strong throb of life in the younger man. Sitting down hard on the gravel, Nick rested his arms on his knees and stared out at the world spread out at his feet. A quick check had already confirmed that the anomaly was no where near, probably closed for the time being and beyond their reach. What he didn't know was whether they were stranded in the past or the future.

A groan from the body beside him roused him from his thoughts, Stephen making an effort to roll onto his back even as his hand encountered Nick's coat tails.

"Take it easy...feeling sick?" Nick asked conversationally, Stephen only managing a grunt as he heaved himself onto his back like a turtle righting itself. He lay there, his arm flung over his eyes to shut out the unrelieved brightness, his tongue coming out to wet dry lips.

"Why did you do it?" Nick asked, squinting at the horizon, looking for some sign of life to identify the period.

"Do what...try and stop you going through the anomaly or sleep with your wife?"

Bitterness surged onto Nick's tongue and he had to swallow hard. Trust Stephen to come directly to the point.

"Both I suppose."

"I didn't know you back then..."

"That's your excuse?" Nick asked incredulously. The nausea was abating and he knew they really should be looking for some sort of shelter off the scree slope.

"Not an excuse. Hell this is Helen we're talking about..." the pain in his voice made Nick look down, only to encounter a pair of brilliant blue eyes clouded with remorse. "I never meant to hurt you Nick. It was over before it ever really started and then she went missing."

"Did you love her?"

"Yes. But I don't think she ever loved me. I thought...we all thought she was dead, what point was there in raking up the past." Rolling on to his side, Stephen levered himself upright, staring bleerily out at the hostile landscape, his eyes narrowed. "Do you know where we are?"

Deciding to accept the change of topic, Nick folded his arms across his knees and rested his chin on them. "I won't know until we spot some of the local wildlife. I'm guessing, just from previous visits that we're still in the Permian Era, but this is different from where we've come through before."

"You mean with the Future Predator?"

"Remember we found that camp, with Helen's camera and the skeleton?"

"Yeah."

"That skeleton was Ryan...the camp was our camp."

"Your joking. That was months ago...that means that first foray was a trip into the future."

"Right. Hard to get your head around."

"But doesn't a time paradox mean that Ryan would have ceased to exist that first time you went through the anomaly...because he was already dead?"

"These rips in the fabric of time don't seem to follow any known rules. Even now we could be a million years in the past, or a million years in the future. What we do here...now...could either affect our own futures or destroy the known history of the earth."

"So no crushing butterflies while we're here?" Stephen quipped, slanting a crooked grin at Nick.

"Definitely no crushing butterflies."

"Right."

They sat for a few moment longer, staring out over the alien, but still familiar landscape of the Earth, whatever era it was. Overhead the sun continued to punish the ground, the shale becoming too hot to touch.

"We should look for shelter, we could be here awhile." Stephen suggested, getting to his feet and dusting off his jeans. Nick followed and together they started down the hillside, careful of their footing on the unstable surface with one eye on the skies in case of airborne predators. By the time they reached a flattish plateau they were both drenched in sweat and starting to feel the effects of dehydration.

"We need to find a water source and soon." Nick panted, mopping his face.

"Already working on it," Stephen panted, stripping off his plaid shirt to make a head scarf to protect him from the sun. Nick had pulled out his soft sunhat from one of his many pockets and donned it, his eyes now shaded from the glare above.

"I think I see greenery at last...down there."

"Likely to be a water source as well. Haven't seen any tracks yet...at least not anything bigger than a rat."

"Rat's are good. Remember that stew we cooked up that time on the dig in Toulouse?"

"Your version of Ratatooille except the recipe usually only uses vegetables."

"Hey, you ate it. We both did. Needed some chilli."

"Needed more vegetables and less rat!"

They trudged on, the heat bouncing off the rocks and searing any exposed skin. Stephen was grateful for his long sleeved undershirt, but he could feel the skin on his face starting to tighten with sun burn. Their efforts brought them closer to the grove of stubby shrubs lining the bottom of the steep valley. Here there was little to move the air, what breeze had been cooling the ridge completely absent, leaving the air still and burning in their lungs. Staggering, Stephen almost fell, Nick's hand under his elbow the only thing keeping him upright.

"We're nearly there...don't fall now, I haven't got the strength to haul your carcass out of the sun!"

At last they reached the small grove of scrubby plants covering the floor of the narrow valley.

"We're still in the Permian Era," Nick announced with evident relief, his hand reaching out to pull a long strappy leaf off the spiky shrub. "Somewhere close to the equator I'm guessing." He started to strip the outer layer off the leaf exposing the white fleshy interior. "It's a cycad, only a baby at this size...very hardy in desert conditions."

"Aren't you supposed to soak these?"

"Only the fruiting nut. Here..." Nick held out the stem for Stephen, then took another one, cutting through the stem further down with his knife.

"Bush tucker," Stephen grinned, chewing the flesh and peeling back more of the outer layer.

"We must be close to the coast. These couldn't have rooted here without some sort of rainfall. I suggest we follow this valley."

"In this heat we'll be lucky to make another hour."

"Then we have an hour."

With the small respite gained from the flesh of the Cycads, the two men carried on, booted feet sinking into occasional sand-traps hidden under the ever present gravel. Still they saw no life, no movement except the passage of the few clouds dotting the perfect blue bowl above their heads.

Rounding a rugged outcrop they found themselves facing a flat plain, vegetation dotted everywhere and the glimmer of sparkling water off in the distance. At the same time a faint roar alerted them that they were no longer alone. In the lee of the outcrop, heavily shaded by an overhand, they found a trickle of water seeping from the rock face. It soaked away into the sandy ground without forming a puddle but it was sufficient to finally quench their thirst. Nick even licking the damp rock to get as much moisture as possible.

"Time we took stock of our provisions," Nick announced, shifting on his backside to free up whatever he had stuffed in his back pockets. They were both sitting with their backs to the cool rock, enjoying the respite from the sun. Stephen had soaked his shirt and was wiping it over his head, face and neck, eyes closed in bliss. Nick spread out his jacket and heaped his belongings in the center.

"Knife, mirror, string, pen, penlight, small square packet, matches, compass, notepad, comb, wallet, mobile, packet of gum and two safety pins."

Stephen peered at the collection of odd bits and pieces, cocking an impudent eyebrow at his friend.

"Is that all? No cuddly toy?" The two men grinned at each other, Nick waiting to see what Stephen produced. After searching through his fewer pockets, he produced his own list.

"Knife, compass, mobile, wallet, pencil stub, fishing lure and a crumpled half pack of unused tissues."

Stephen shrugged. "Connor was allergic to Dodo's."

They stared down at the small pile. It was hardly encouraging, with practically nothing to defend themselves with and no food. Not even a drink bottle to capture some of the seepage. Nick held up the small foil package.

"We could use this to hold water at a pinch..if we're careful."

"How old is it?"

Nick bristled at the implication, then relaxed. Stephen was quite right, it had been some time since Professor Cutter had needed or even thought about using latex for anything other than gloves. He quickly checked the use by date, before waving it triumphantly in the younger man's face.

"Well within the due date. And you can't talk, I don't see one from you in the pile."

"And not likely to anytime soon." Stephen retorted glumly, staring off towards the distant trees. "What chance I might have had was blown...back there."

Nick nodded. As much as he wanted to blame the younger man for the hurt that had rampaged through him before they both fell through the anomaly, he knew that there was only one person responsible for what had happened. Helen. His driven, self obsessed, brilliant Helen. She was the past master of manipulation, doing anything and everything to get her own way, and certainly, eight years ago, things had been rough between them. Both reaching a point in their careers where decisions were needed as to direction and purpose. She had a clear vision and expected him to jump through her hoops, only he was also at a crossroads and was no longer willing just to follow her lead. That would have been when Stephen appeared on the scene, right in the middle of their personal crisis, and right into Helen's manipulative hands. A lamb to the slaughter. It was no wonder she'd been able to convince him that Nick was an uncaring husband, he had been. Wrapped up in his work, long hours spent at various digs, poring over fossils and bits of bone, who wouldn't feel neglected. It really wasn't a surprise that she'd taken Stephen as her lover, he was young, handsome and full of passion and enthusiasm. Helen had called him sweet, and Stephen was, especially when he was younger, so eager to learn, so ready to launch himself on the world and discover all it's hidden secrets. That side was still there, just more hidden, more guarded, and now Nick knew why. Helen had taken Stephen's youthful gallantry and thrown it back in his face, leaving him scarred but wiser in the ways of women, and far less trusting of the fair sex. It probably explained why he'd kept up the long distance relationship with Alison for so many years. It was a great way to fend off unwanted attention from other women wanting to catch his eye.

Of course, all that had changed with the advent of the anomalies and Abby Maitland. Nick was not blind and was far from unobservant. He'd noticed the glances, the small smiles, the banter between them. Abby had more than proved herself, showing guts when faced with her fears and brave to a fault in defense of those she cared about. In brains she was a perfect match for Stephen, both of them fiercely passionate about conservation and wildlife and near the top of their respective career specialities. Nick was glad, Stephen needed someone like Abby to open him up, prise up that tightly welded lid of guarded emotion and find the hidden Sir Lancelot within.

Nick smiled to himself. Now there's an analogy – Lancelot, who stole Guinevere's heart from King Arthur. He smiled wider. Professor Nick Cutter in a crown, what a joke.

No, better to forget all that now. Helen was somewhere out there, but he no longer cared where. She had played her last card with him and lost. Now all that mattered was getting himself and Stephen back to their own time and place in one piece.

He stared back down at their meager supplies.

"Abby will get over it. Our immediate problem is finding the next time portal. We know from Connor that a compass are probably our best bet in finding the next anomaly. There's little activity now, but we know from where they've appeared before that they are likely to appear again in the same or a nearby point along a straight line."

Stephen was listening intently, nodding in agreement. Nick continued. "If we fill the condom with water, that will suffice to get us back to where we've just come from. If we travel at night we won't suffer from the heat and be ready at the ridge come dawn."

"We'll be more vulnerable to nocturnal predators." Stephen stated, running his thumb over the blade of his knife, testing its sharpness.

"You have a better idea?"

"Nope."

"Then let's make our plans. I took a note of the time when we started out and it took us three hours to get to this point. Given it was the hottest part of the day, we should make it in two walking at night."

"Let's hope the anomaly shows up sooner than it has before. The latex won't hold out very long, and with no water, we can't hope to travel in the daytime."

"I'll worry about that when it happens. Sundown should be in a couple of hours, we'll rest up until then." Gathering up their possessions once more, the two settled themselves in the dirt after taking another long drink from the seeping rock spring.

"I'll take first watch...in case something larger than a rat takes an interest." Stephen announced, getting to his feet and looking out over the plain.

"Here, take my watch and wake me in two hours, then we'll swap."

"Fine. I'll be back in a sec. Need to take care of something." Not waiting for an answer, Stephen walked off, keeping under the rocky overhang to a point about twenty feet away. Giving him privacy, Nick rolled onto his side and bunched his jacket under his head for a pillow. Apart from the faint trickle of water snaking down the rock, there was none of the usual sound of life, the chirrup of insects or calls of the larger reptiles. If he had to guess, he'd have said they were in the last epoch of the Permian Era on or near the coastal plains of the super continent, Pangaea, probably within a few tens of thousand years of the extinction event that capped this period in the Earth's history.

Sometimes it sucked to be an evolutionary paleontologist.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Sometimes it sucked to be a lizard girl. Abby was nearing the end of her tenure in the 'bug house' and was starting to wonder what she was going to do. Certainly she'd made herself useful about the Zoo with nearly all the departments whether as a behavioral consultant, or simply with the mucking out. With the death of her boss Tim Parker, the zoo hierarchy had been thrown into a tizzy with no formal replacement found as yet. But Abby knew it was only a matter of time and then her job would be up for review once more and a home needed for a lizard girl who now knew more than she ever wanted to know about Elephant dung bacteria.

Now, with the disappearance of Professor Nick Cutter and his assistant Stephen Hart, her extracurricular activities were in danger of becoming non-existent. More than a week had passed with no sign of the anomaly appearing anywhere near the woods surrounding the zoo. Sir James had kept his word and left brief text messages on the lack of news, their meeting with him on the following Monday not exactly cause for celebration. He'd been polite, and cold, and obviously couldn't wait for them to leave, the sooner the better. Mouthing platitudes, he'd hustled her and Connor out of the office and shut the door with a finality that chilled her. It was as if they'd already given up.

God, what if it was another eight years before Stephen of Nick appeared again. Could she really move on with her life after everything she'd seen and done? Could she really say goodbye to them both and just carry on regardless?

Somehow she doubted it.

In her hand she held a key to Stephen Hart's apartment. Only that morning a courier had arrived with a packaged addressed to both her and Connor. Inside were quite explicit instructions for the pair of them to visit the respective residence of the missing men and clear out anything perishable, as well as take care of turning off the utilities and sending any outstanding bills to Sir James to take care off.

At first Abby had been revolted by the idea of them acting as minions for Lester to order about, but then her purely feminine curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't wait to haul Connor into the Mini to drop him off at Cutters house before going on to Stephen's which, unsurprisingly, wasn't that far from the University. Connor had predictably argued with her that he should take Stephen's place, but Abby wasn't about to be thwarted. As much as she hated the idea of snooping in another persons home without an invitation, it was too much to hope she could resist the temptation.

Here was a chance to maybe find out a little more than she did about the reclusive and enigmatic Stephen Hart. She was damn sure that if their circumstances were reversed he wouldn't hesitate to riffle through her knicker drawers on the pretext of watering her plants.

Parking her car in the residents only space, she got out and stood staring up at the multi stories apartment block. This was no council flat, although it was still ugly as only apartment blocks can be and she wondered at Stephen living in such a sterile place. She mused, as she climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, that with all the traveling he did as part of his job, that keeping a house with grounds would have been impractical. She supposed that all he really wanted was somewhere to rest his pack and sleep between assignments. Nothing flash or fancy, much like the man himself. She walked down the corridor until she stood in front of a door sporting the number 42, the lino tiled floor and walls free of the ever present graffiti and rubbish you usually found in high rises. Obviously Stephen made enough to live in a nice block with an building attendant that actually did something.

Fitting the key in the slot she turned it in the well oiled lock and heard it click. Turning the door handle she pushed it open and stepped into the world that was home for Stephen Hart. She didn't know what to expect and was pleased to walk into a tastefully decorated living room with a wealth of exotic artifacts scattered around the walls and display ledges. Everything was clean and tidy and Abby wondered if he had a maid service to keep it that way. Having seen the office he shared with Nick Cutter plus his rather unorthodox choices in wardrobe, she's assumed he might be a bit of a clutter bug. Instead she found herself browsing the well stocked bookshelves and picking up interesting bits of bric-a-brac that she longed to ask him about their origins. She wandered into the kitchen and found it as neat as the lounge, a brief inspection of the cupboards showed that he had a wide variety of food tastes including spicy and delicate choices of seasoning near to the stove. Something that did strike her immediately was that there were no pictures of family or females anywhere to be seen. Or, for that matter, any particularly feminine touches to his lounge or kitchen.

"So much for Alison." Abby muttered to herself, pulling open the fridge to find that at least some things never change with single men. One carton of milk, a tray of eggs and a solitary onion graced the glaring white racks, while the door held three bottles of white wine, one sparkling and two brut, and half a cut lemon. Smirking to herself, she inspected the freezer and found it well stocked with meal portions, some prepackaged and others obviously homemade. She could almost picture him coming in from a long day and just yanking whatever was at the front out of the freezer and popping it into the microwave, while he poured himself something to drink while he waited. A wine rack on the breakfast bar held several bottles of red in the mid price range, with one that she recognised from a recent weekend paper wine review article. She had also learnt that Stephen was a muesli man, and liked to keep fit, the hoodie and running shoes near the front door telling their own story.

Working her way past the lounge, she opened a door and found his study. Here was almost a mirror image of the department of Evolutionary Zoology, and Abby was hard pressed not to laugh out loud. Books were stacked haphazardly on nearly every surface not already covered in bits of stone or plant matter. Images of large predators and vintage prints of dinosaurs covered every available wall space while an expensive looking laptop graced center stage on the crowded desk. Pinned up on cork boards and blue tacked to the edges of the shelves were the pictures she'd noticed missing from the living area. Photo's of himself and Nick in nearly every conceivable far flung corner of the world fought for space with newspaper cuttings from editions old and more recent. Most were relevant to the anomaly and creature sightings of the past few months, some of the showing blurry photos of the dinosaurs, others with distant shots of Cutter's team going about their business with the Black Op's men around them.

Sitting in his chair, Abby swung herself around and peered at some of the photo's, smiling to herself at the happy expressions beaming at her out of them. Here was Stephen doing what he did best. Tracking and darting big cats, researching the local large predators, meeting and talking to people at the cutting edge of conservation and preservation of their planet. This was the man she admired. A quick check informed her that Helen didn't feature in any of the images, old or new, which went a long way to confirming that Stephen wasn't wearing his heart on his sleeve for her. But she got a surprise when she casually lifted some of the legion of bulletins and newsletters crowding the lap top. She saw the corner of a photo peeking out and temptation proved too strong. Pulling it out she found herself staring at an image of herself taken when they'd gone to investigate the bugs in the underground. She was wearing one of the headphone pieces and was looking off camera, her face in a three quarter profile. From the slight graininess of the photo she assumed it had been taken from a distance and probably enlarged, but how Stephen had come by it was something of a mystery. And yet, he kept it here, close to where he worked, among his treasures. She felt a lump rise in her throat and a prickle behind her eyes. Carefully returning the photo back to where she found it, she decided to move on.

The bathroom next door was predictably immaculate, the bathroom cabinet neatly set out. She uncapped a bottle of after-shave with an expensive brand name and sniffed. Yup, that was his smell. Feeling the flush of embarrassment creep up her neck, she shut the cabinet with a bang and left. There were still two more rooms to go, the one across from the bathroom being the spare room, looking for all the world like a hotel room with the same air of disuse and neglect. Obviously he didn't have many people over to stay if ever. Next door to that was the master bedroom, and Abby hesitated before she opened the door. Could she really be brazen enough to march into what was, for most people, is the most private part of their life? Inching the door open, she stuck her head in then pushed the door wide.

Whatever she was expecting, it wasn't the messy chaos that greeted her. It looked as if a tornado had whirled into the room, with jeans, shirts and other items of clothing flung about with reckless abandon. The double bed was unmade with the covers flung back as if he'd thrown himself out of bed in a hurry, the pillows in total disarray. More artifacts adorned the walls, with a very secure looking gun cabinet in one corner, plus a pair of crossed foils over the head of the bed. The double bi-fold wardrobe doors hung half open and positively invited inspection. At least she couldn't accuse him of being a neat freak. Obviously the cleaning lady had strict instructions to leave his bedroom and study alone. She sat on the side of his bed, resisting strongly the urge to look in his wardrobe. Instead she sat on her hands and just looked around, imagining him sleeping, probably all six feet of him sprawled out and hogging the covers, maybe dreams about Gorgonopsid making him restless or possibly nightmares about the Arthropleura attack coming back to haunt him. Certainly he was an active sleeper if the wreckage of his covers was anything to go by.

Abby sighed and decided it was time she left, the feeling of being a intruder and maybe even a little stalkerish, starting to make her uncomfortable. There was only one plant in the bedroom, sat squarely on one of the bedside tables. Behind it was a picture cube, a smiling image of Nick Cutter on the side facing up. Curious, she picked it up and turned it over in her hand. On three sides were pictures of people she didn't recognise, while two of them featured Cutter, the last one took her breath away. Again, it was of herself, looking a little pensive but staring clear eyed off camera as before. It wasn't a particularly good quality picture and she suspected it had been taken with a mobile phone, but from what she was wearing she figured it had to be the first time she'd been involved with the anomalies, Rex and the Gorgonopsid. Apparently Stephen had taken her picture without her knowing, and now had it here, beside his bed to look at any time. She remembered when he'd brought her a mug of hot tea from his own thermos and asked if she was alright. She'd said something about being scared and exhilerated and he'd said snap, or something like that. Abby smiled to herself, he'd liked her even then, this photo was proof. Placing the cube carefully back where she'd found it, she picked up the plant once more and hugged it to her chest.

Connor had called Stephen a two-timing weasel after the episode with the girlfriend, Alison, but Stephen said later that they'd grown apart. She hadn't seen any pictures of the elusive Amanda, but now had two of herself close to where he worked and slept. It was enough to give her a serious case of warm fuzzies, even if he was still a bit of a rat over the whole Helen Cutter fiasco.

But who was she to point the finger. There were things in her past she wasn't particularly keen to brag about, things that made her flush with mortification even now.

Shutting the door of the bedroom behind her, she walked back to the living room, collecting the few plants dotted about the place and set them down by the front door. Finding a shopping bag in one of the kitchen drawers she emptied the fridge of its few contents, leaving the freezer for the time being. Sir James had said to collect up any outstanding bills so she returned to the study and tried to spot where Stephen might file his accounts. A metal spike yielded a collection of utility bills which she pocketed before making her way back to the front door. With her arms full of pot plants, and a shopping bag hanging off her arm, Abby left Stephen's apartment, locking it behind her. As she waited for the lift to arrive, a door opened further along the corridor and a women came out, locking the door behind her. Abby was watching the numbers count down when the woman came to stand beside her.

"You must be Abby."

"Pardon?"

"The lizard girl?"

"I'm sorry...should I know you?" The lift arrived with a loud pinging sound and Abby got on board, the woman close behind. Abby slanted her a sideways look full of suspicion, but the woman only laughed.

"You must be wondering...I'm Stephen's neighbour across the hall. Usually he asks me to pop in and water his plants if he's going off on one of his expeditions. The only female he's spoken about in the past few months has been a girl he works with, someone called Abby...so I assumed it was you."

"Oh...oh yes, I am Abby...Stephen's spoken about me?" She couldn't help the goofy smile that lit up her face. At that moment the lift reached the ground floor and the doors slid opened. The woman, who had to be in her late thirties or early forties, picked up the shopping bag and one of the plants.

"Let me help you with these. By the way, I'm Sue, Sue Richards, number forty three."

"Thanks, that would be great. My mini is just parked outside."

"So how long is the dear boy going to be away this time?"

"Oh...er..." Abby juggled one of the plants to fish her car keys out of her jeans pocket. "Um...well..."

Sue interrupted her. "Don't bother... I know he can be a little vague sometimes. And I'm glad he has you to help out now. I'm off on a trip in a few days and won't be here to check up on his apartment while he's gone. So pleased he has a girlfriend at last, a good looking boy like Stephen needs someone to take care of him."

"Oh no...I mean...I'm not..." Abby stammered, flushing when the woman gave her an understanding look.

"I'll say this, you're an improvement on his previous girlfriend...Alice, or Alicia or something,"

"Alison," Abby supplied helpfully.

"That's right. A cold fish and never around. Glad he's gone for someone more down to earth this time. Cheerio."

Abby stood with her mouth open watching Sue sashay away to her own car. Down to earth indeed, made her sound like an earthworm. Piling the plants into the back of the car, she climbed in, taking a moment to secure Stephen's door key to her own keyring. She didn't bother to check her mobile, sure that there'd be a ton of messages from Connor wondering what was keeping her so long. Firing up her little car she backed it out and drove off, her mind still back inside the fourth floor apartment, still back with Stephen and those incriminating photos.

Abby grinned to herself. She really hoped it wasn't another eight years before she had a chance to ask him just why he had them where he did.

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on a roll...tbc...


	3. Splintered Light

1/9/07

Title: Splintered Light

Author: Squeezynz

When does the future become the past and how do you know when you've arrived at the same place you left. Stephen and Cutter return through the anomaly only to find things not as they left them.

Author's note: things might start to get a mite confusing from here on in– all to do with time paradox and alternative dimensions, so bear with me. The characters remain the same, they're just not in the right place at the right time.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It took three days before the anomaly appeared again, three of the longest, hottest days that Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart had ever spent. The condom had lasted two days before developing a leak on the last night before the portal appeared. Without that fragile pouch of latex they would have been in serious trouble, as it was they were both suffering from lack of food, the Cycad fronds not providing much sustenance. When the anomaly flared into existence it wasn't a moment too soon. The stress of waiting and keeping a watch for predators had stretched their nerves thin and tempers were close to breaking point.

The sun had already set and they were negotiating the steep scree slope when a flare of light behind them made them turn and stare back up to the ridge. The pulsating schism of light winked and flashed at them, beckoning them to come back.

"If I didn't know better I'd think it was taunting us."

"Not a moment too soon. I'm sure that was a Gorgonopsid I heard last night." Stephen ran a hand over his emerging beard, the bristles hard and prickly against his fingers. His skin itched from sunburn and dust, his body soaked in sweat and sand. Cutter wasn't in much better shape, the fair Scots skin looking painfully red despite the shade cast by his soft hat.

They scrambled up the slope, boots slipping in the shale until they reached the top of the ridge and approached the gyrating door back to their own time. They paused, and shared a look between them.

"Ready?" Stephen asked.

"Ready!" Without a backward glance, Cutter walked into the sparkling white light and passed out of the Permian Era into a pitch black night, Stephen only a heartbeat behind him.

For a second they stood blinking to adjust their eyes from the semi gloom to the pitch black, only the faintest glimmer of starlight to show them the trees towering all around. There were no floodlights, no soldiers, nothing and nobody to welcome them back. Given what they'd been through they would have been pleased to see even Sir James Lester standing in his pin striped suit with his supercilious air.

"We're back," Stephen said softly, receiving a pat on the shoulder for his trouble.

"We have no way of knowing how much time might have passed since we disappeared. Given the time distortion we now know about, we could be days, weeks or months from the time we left."

"Future or the past?"

"Take your pick." After the scorching heat of the past few days, the coolness of the forest was a balm to Cutters' tortured skin. The air was damp and redolent of dead leaves and pine needles, a welcome change from dust and burnt earth. Together they made their way through the trees towards what looked like the glow of town lights at the edge of the wood. Neither was prepared to lay bets as to where they had ended up, only time and daylight would answer that question.

The anomaly was disappearing behind the dense woodland until there was nothing but starlight to guide them and the faint orange glow up ahead. Eventually they saw a street lamp shining through the branches and headed for it. Leaving the trees they stepped out onto a road and stared in both directions.

Stephen pulled out his mobile and tried several numbers but after a couple of minutes he gave up.

"No signal dammit...which means we're not in the Forest of Dean or else further out than we've been before and beyond the signal range of the closest tower."

"Do we wait for a car or walk?"

Stephen raised his eyebrows and Nick let out a laugh. "I don't suppose there's much chance of anyone stopping for two sorry bastards in the state we're in. Walk it is then."

"We should leave something to identify this lamp post, for when we come back." Not waiting for Cutter to comment, Stephen took his knife to his stained and dusty plaid shirt and cut off one sleeve. He knotted it around the concrete post with the aid of Nick's string, giving it a few experimental tugs to make sure it wouldn't come off in the first breeze. Satisfied they'd marked the head of the trail back to the anomaly, the two weary men trudged off into the darkness, the orange light of the solitary street lamp soon left far behind them.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The shrill bleep of the phone woke Abby from a deep sleep. Flinging out a groping hand, she found the receiver and clumsily brought it to her ear.

"Abby Maitland,"

"Miss Maitland, my name is Sir James Lester. You don't know me but I was hoping you would come down to my office in London. Today if that's possible."

"'scuse me?"

"I'm aware it's a little early for a social call, but I can only impress upon you that this is on the most important business. Can you be ready for the car by eight?"

"Eight?" Lifting her head, she peered at the clock. "It's only six thirty."

"Quite. The car will pick you up around eight. There'll be one other joining you, a mister Connor Temple. The car will bring you both directly to the Home Office."

"Home Office?" Abby squeaked, her mouth dropping open in shock.

"Yes, I said the Home Office, they will direct you from there. Is that clear?"

"I have to be at work by nine..."

"I have already cleared the matter with your superior. As I have said, this is of the utmost importance."

"Er...er..." But before she could make a coherent reply the line went dead and she was listening to the dial tone. Still befuddled, she tossed the handset in the vicinity of the base and threw back the bed covers. What on earth had she done to be contacted by the Home Office of all places, and what could possibly be so important that Sir James Lester, who she had never heard of, wanted the help of a zoologist specialising in lizard behavior. Sitting on the side of the bed, she stared off into space before a quick glance at the bedside clock warned her she had barely an hour to get ready for the car that was supposed to be coming to pick her up. And who was this Connor Temple?

Several hours later, after a surprisingly comfortable car trip in to London, Abby found herself being ushered into a very smart, glassed office belonging to the mysterious Sir James. Alongside her stood Connor Temple, a young man with an unusual dress sense and a seemingly endless ability to bang on about conspiracy theories and techno babble. She assumed he thought himself charming, and chatting her up, but for all his witty one liners he was still a geek, albeit a cute one in a geeky kind of way. They had been greeted by a statuesque woman who brought them both to Lester's office and asked them to wait. Beyond the glass was a hive of activity with an unknown number of smartly suited males and females working on goodness knew what on their laptops amid sterile white office furniture.

"Still not any the wiser as to what this Sir Jim wants with us?" Connor asked, leaning out of his chair to hiss the question practically in her ear.

"None at all. I'm as much in the dark as you are."

A few minutes later the man himself arrived looking dapper in an expensive pin-striped suit and leather shoes. He shook Abby's hand then Connor's and indicated for them to sit before seating himself behind a broad expanse of glass desk top.

"I appreciate you both coming on such short notice, and I'm sure you have a million questions to ask me, but I ask you to hold fire until a little later. I've brought you here to meet two people who claim to know you."

"What?" from Connor.

"Who?" from Abby.

Sir James cleared his throat. "They say that you have been working with them for over six months now, on a special project to do with the appearance of time portals or anomalies that have begun to appear in isolated areas of the United Kingdom."

"I told you...a government conspiracy!" Connor crowed, his eyes dancing and a wide grin plastered over his face. Abby ignored him and concentrated on Sir James who didn't look as if he was mad, but his looks didn't seem to match his words.

"Did you say – time portals?"

"The two men I want you to meet are both well respected in their separate fields and come with an impressive portfolio of qualifications. The story they tell is quite fantastic and it involves the two of you."

Both Abby and Connor could only stare back at Lester with matching expression of bafflement.

"Who are these men?" Abby asked.

"Rather than answer that right now, I'd like you to come with me."

He led them out of the glass walled office and down a corridor where the walls, painted a soft grey, gave the impression that important matters of state and security were conducted in secret behind the blank doors lining each wall. Eventually Sir James stopped in front of one and opened it with a swipe of a security card. Abby entered first, followed by Connor.

Inside was a plain conference room with a long table, several chairs and a glass floor-to-ceiling window looking out over the London cityscape. There were two men standing in the room, one about thirty and dark haired, the other maybe a decade older and sandy haired. They both swung around when the door opened, their expressions guarded. The younger man made to move forward, his eyes fixed on Abby as she nervously entered the room.

"Abby...at last. Would you tell Lester to knock off the act and stop mucking us about."

"Er...do I know you?" Abby asked, slanting a glance at Sir James who remained by the doorway.

Connor had been staring at the two men and suddenly darted forward towards the older man, his hand extended and a broad smile on his face.

"Professor Cutter...what a pleasure to finally meet you. Did you get my thesis? What did you think?- sexy stuff eh!" He'd reached the Professor and gripped the man's hand, pumping it up and down while casting glances over his shoulder at Abby and Sir James. The younger man had worked his way around the table without Abby noticing and now stood in front of her, his thickly lashed blue eyes daring her to deny him.

"Abby?"

She stared up at him, all six foot plus inches of him and felt the lack of every one of hers. He was undeniably handsome, his expression somewhere between pleading and frustrated. He was not usually her type, but up close she could almost feel a magnetic pull between them, her own wide blue gaze unable to disconnect from his. With difficulty she forcibly broke the connection and stepped away from him, noticing at once that his shoulders slumped as she did so.

"I'm sorry...but-but I've never met you before today...and-and I'm pretty damn sure I'd have remembered if I had."

Her flustered statement brought a small smile to his face, revealing dimples either side of his mouth, but it soon faded. Swinging away from her he returned to the other side of the conference table, his hands coming to rest on his hips in a gesture that was obviously adopted frequently. Released from his intense scrutiny, Abby sat down on one of the vacant chairs and blew out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

Connor had finally stopped shaking Professor Cutters hand and released the poor man. For his part, the Professor remained impassive, his very silence finally making Connor back off and shut up.

Sir James folded his arms across his chest and stepped further into the room.

"It would seem we have a quandary. All the people you have given me to contact have never heard of you, or only in a professional capacity at best. I spoke to Captain Ryan in Special Ops..."

"Ryan's alive?" Cutter interrupted, his face looking hopeful. "Captain Ryan's not dead?"

"Not when I spoke to him an hour ago," Lester replied dryly. "If you would allow me to continue." He waited for the Professor to nod. "I have looked into your situation and found out that you both, in point of fact, have been reported missing – six months ago, to be precise."

"What?" "Who by?" They both asked as once. Sir James looked down at a thin dossier in front of him and read a passage before looking up.

"By your wife, Professor, by Helen Cutter, according to this missing persons report filed in February."

"That's impossible...that's... just impossible." Now it was Nick Cutter's turn to sit down rather abruptly into a chair.

Abby had been watching the younger man and saw a fleeting expression of pain cross his face at the mention of the Professor's wife. It was obvious to her that these two men were close, had probably known each other for several years. They both looked extremely tired and suffering from the after effects of severe sunburn. Their clothes looked equally as battered as they did, plus both men were sporting several days worth of beard and dark circles under their eyes.

"Well, impossible or not, those are the facts. Would you care to tell us where you've been for the past six months?" Sir James looked at them both, his eyebrows raised in inquiry.

"We've only been gone three days...not six months," retorted the younger man, one hand gravitating back to his hip while the other scratched at the growth along his jaw line. "We've told you all this already – why don't you believe us."

"Because this is the wrong time line Stephen. This isn't our earth, our time. We need to go back through the anomaly and find another way." Cutter answered before Sir James could.

"Your saying that all the theories about alternative Earth's is actually true?" The two men were now facing each other, caught up in their conversation and ignoring the other people in the room.

"I'm saying that this is all wrong, just as it was when I came back through the first time. You had never heard of Claudia Brown, but in my own time she has been working here, with us, for months..."

"What do you know about Claudia Brown?" Lester interrupted, immediately focused on what the two men were saying.

"You know Claudia?" Nick Cutter asked, his expression brightening visibly.

"Of course I know her. She's head of special operations and co-coordinator for the southern counties, currently seconded to me due to the unusual nature of current events."

Nick nodded his head as if something had suddenly made sense. "What's happened is no surprise to you, is it? You know exactly what's been going on and what we've been talking about!"

"I'm not easily surprised Professor." Sir James retorted. "Let me remove these two young people and we can get down to business."

"Hang on..." Connor spluttered, "You can't just push us out now, not after all we've heard. Talk about government cover-up..."

"I'm not going either," Abby added, getting to her feet. "You pulled us into this and I want to know more...your name for starters," Abby stared pointedly across the table at the younger man.

"Stephen Hart...I'd have rather met you under better circumstances, but I'm pleased to meet you Abby." Again he graced her with his shy, bone melting smile and she returned it. Connor made a rude noise behind her and she sat down, her cheeks burning. Sir James took the opportunity to speak again.

"Quite. But I fail to see what point there is in keeping you both here. You don't know the Professor or his assistant, or the situation we are facing, so I see no need..."

"We want them to stay," Stephen spoke up, "if you have anomalies, then you have the same problem's we had with unwanted visitors. Abby and Connor can help. She's an expert on reptile behavior and he's a walking encyclopedia of the information we need."

"But I only know about..." Connor started to say, only to open his eyes wide with comprehension a second later. "Oh my God...you have got to be pulling a fast one. No way...no fricken way!"

A simple nod from Professor Cutter was sufficient to send Connor whooping around the room and flinging his hat into the air. Abby sent Stephen a questioning look but before he could answer her silent query Connor bounced up beside her.

"It's bloody dinosaurs...has to be...don't you see? Time portals, anomalies...it's bloody dinosaurs."

And he was off again, going so far as to jump on one of the conference chairs and punch the air repeatedly. Sir James, Stephen and Cutter all watched the young student with mixed emotions. Sir James looked exasperated, Stephen amused, and Cutter resigned, even rolling his eyes before covering them with his hand.

"It's true then...what Connor says?" She asked the question to the room but looked at Stephen for the answer. It was not long in coming.

"All true." He flicked a glance at Lester before continuing. "You, Connor, myself, Nick as well as Claudia Brown and Captain Ryan are all part of a team who deal with whatever comes through the anomalies appearing up and down the country. They're windows into the past that go both ways."

"How far in the past?" Abby asked, her eyes bright with interest.

"Millions of years...as far back as the Permian Era." Professor Cutter answered. "Stephen and I are the department of Evolutionary Zoology at the Central Metropolitan University, or at least we were." He quirked a sandy eyebrow at Sir James, who glanced down at the dossier before answering.

"Something to that effect, although here is says the department for Evolutionary Advanced Paleontology, D.E.A.P for short."

"Same difference," Nick waved his hand. "we study the unusual appearance and extinction of species across all the different geological era's and try to find a link or explanation."

"And there's only the two of you doing this?" Abby asked, not entirely understanding the point of their research but impressed nonetheless.

"It's a small field," Stephen answered, exchanging a smile with the Professor. "When it was discovered that there were simply some fossils that couldn't be slotted into the time frame they appeared in, it was offered to Nick to follow them up and find out why. That was eight years ago."

"It says here that you've only been with the department for just under two years," Lester added, running his finger down a page of text in the dossier. "Previously you were part of a big cats game preserve working with the Royal Conservation Society under Giles Howard."

"Giles Howard? But he was killed five years ago when his group were kidnapped by insurgents in Uganda!"

"Hang on," Nick interrupted, looking at Stephen askance. "Giles Howard was still alive last I heard."

For a long pregnant pause the two men stared in horrified disbelief at each other.

"I'm not the right Stephen Hart..." "I've jumped two time lines..." Both men spoke at once.

"Hang on, hang on" Abby held up her hands, confusion making her frown. "You," she pointed to Stephen, "and you.." she pointed to Nick, "are saying you're not only from a different time line than us, but that you're from different time lines from each other?"

Both men looked at her then back at each other. This time it was Stephen who sat down rather heavily into a spare chair.

Nick answered for them both. "You seem to have hit the nail on the head Abby, well done."

"Impossible..." James Lester retorted, but he didn't seem to have much belief in his own words from the expression on his face. Only Connor seemed to take any pleasure from the revelation.

"Wicked!" At which point both Stephen and Abby said "shut up", crushing the young man and rendering him mute.

Nick was the first to recover, running his hands over his face in a weary gesture. "I vote we leave this for the time being. We've both been through hell and I need to get cleaned up. Could you supply a car to take me back home...wherever that is here?"

James Lester reeled off an address, adding, "your wife isn't there today. She's already been informed of your return and is flying in tonight from South America." He looked up to see a glance pass between the two men. "And as for you mister Hart, I'm afraid your flat's lease was terminated and your goods put into storage by your ex-fiancee, Alison Butler."

"Ex-fiancee?" Stephen asked.

"I'm sorry to have to inform you but Miss Butler is now Mrs. Greg Thompson. Married a colleague of yours in May. I haven't yet informed her of your return, as they are currently somewhere in Australia, and given the circumstances I'll leave that up to you whether you do."

Abby was watching Stephen's reaction and surprised to see little more than a brief sad smile pass his face. Apparently he wasn't that upset over his fiancee's rather hasty defection.

"You can come and stay with me, Stephen." Nick offered, placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, do you. Despite me being a different Stephen, it appears that some things haven't changed, if you remember." Again Abby saw a brief flash of pain, this time on both of their faces. Suddenly she knew what she had to do.

"Stephen can come and stay with me. I have a spare room, and I'm the closest to the University...and...and it's not as if I have a boyfriend to worry about getting jealous..." She snapped her mouth shut, realising too late that she'd let slip a whole lot more than necessary.

Stephen was looking at her with undisguised surprise, as was everyone else in the room and Abby wanted to just sink from embarrassment. But, not having a reputation as a coward, she tilted her chin and brazened it out.

"You don't have to Abby...I could go to a hotel..." Stephen answered with his mouth but his eyes spoke a different message. One that Abby picked up on.

"No!...I mean you'll want to be close to the Professor and the campus, and I've been meaning to let the room anyway...you'll be quite private...until you sort out something else." She shut up again, her cheeks quite pink.

"Thank you Abby...if you're sure I won't be in the way?"

"Gawd no...I mean, of course not. I'll be at the Zoo most days... and I'm sure you'll want to get your own place again, once every thing's sorted out."

"Sure...thanks."

"Then that's settled," James Lester stated, flipping the dossier shut and getting up to leave. At that moment a knock sounded at the door and he went to open it. A whispered conversation took place with whoever was outside then he turned back to the room. "That was confirmation of the location of your anomaly Professor. We've cordoned off the area, but Captain Ryan reports that there are signs of some activity around the portal – strange tracks and spore."

"We'll have to go and see...if it's another Gorgonopsid..." Stephen paused, exchanging a worried look with Nick.

"We don't know that. For all we know it could be a Dodo..." An audible gasp from Connor make Nick swing around to see the other three occupant staring at them with their mouths' open. "Er...forget what I just said...I could be wrong."

"Yes...well, that can wait until later. In the meantime I need you all to sign an Official Secrets Act before you leave this room."

"We've already signed," chorused Stephen and Nick.

"Then you'll have to sign again. I'll want to fully debrief you both in a day or so and then hand you over to Miss Brown. Captain Ryan will keep me appraised on the situation with the anomaly, while you two get some sleep and a change of clothes. I'll issue you with a company card because all your assets have been frozen since your disappearance," Lester looked pointedly at Stephen who looked pained but nodded his compliance. "And I'll need an updated record of your fingerprints and blood work before you leave." He looked up to find both men eyeing him intently. "As you have said yourself. Neither of you appear to belong in our time, and in fact come from equally different times to this. We need to find out if there is a way to tell your different selves apart. Also Miss Maitland and Mister Temple will need to do the same, in case they end up on the wrong side of an anomaly by mistake. Which raises another issue...what happens to you if the Professor Cutter and Stephen Hart of our own time reappear?"

"I'm getting a headache," Connor groaned to himself. Cutter chuffed softly and grinned, a definite twinkle in his tired eyes.

"We have to hope they don't...because then you'll have a real paradox and it all turns into a Doctor Who episode!"

Abby was the first to giggle, unable to keep her face straight. Stephen was next, a wide grin revealing deep dimples either side of his mouth, then Connor laughed out loud, followed by Cutter. Even Sir James had to crack a smile, it was all so absurd but so terrifyingly real.

While the room resounded to the sounds of muted laughter, Lester spoke into a phone on the wall and almost at once a flunky appeared with sheafs of paper and a handful of pens. These were distributed around the table and everyone sobered quickly before perusing the small print.

Abby was the first to sign her name, quite willing to do everything necessary to keep herself up with the play on whatever was happening with these two men. She deliberately ignored the little voice inside that insisted she was only doing all this to keep Stephen Hart as near as possible, the man proving to be not only extremely attractive personally, but now an intriguing enigma as well. The combination was proving irresistible.

Both Stephen and Nick cast a cursory glance over the paperwork before signing their names, only Connor bothering to take the time to read every last word before signing his name with a flourish. After gathering up the forms, Lester handed them over to his assistant. Almost at once two white coated lab techs entered the conference room and started to set up their equipment at the end of the table.

"Everyone in this room needs to be blood typed and finger printed," Lester ordered, "then they can be released." He turned back to face Nick and the others. "After that you can all go home and rest up. I imagine the next few days are going to be rather busy for all of you." And with that he left the room.

The techs did their job in record time and the group of four were soon being ushered into a lift to ferry them to the basement garage and the cars waiting to take them back to their respective homes.

Before they parted the two men exchanged a brief hug. "Even if you're not the Stephen of my time, you're the only Stephen Hart I have. Don't go disappearing on me now."

"I won't...and good luck with Helen. Neither of us knows what's happened in this time line. I'm almost afraid to find out."

They separated and piled into their respective cars, Abby and Connor climbing in behind Stephen. After a few seconds Connor suddenly excited the car and shot around to the front to sit beside the driver.

"Two's company, three's a crowd," he explained to the surprised driver before glancing over his shoulder at the pair in the back, a cheeky grin on his face.

At once the two luxury government cars peeled out from the underground carpark and shot off in the same direction.

From the window of his glass walled office, Sir James Lester watched the two black specks before they became lost in the London traffic. Turning from the window he reached down to answer the phone bleeping discreetly on his desk top.

"Yes...I see...send me your reports at once...yes...no, we have to keep this under wraps. I don't want the media getting a hold on this. Lock the area down and keep tracking it. No...both of them are on their way back. They looked like hell and in need of a good bath...what?...no...the fewer people that know the better. Alright...keep me posted."

Putting the phone down he stared off into space for a few moments, then shook his head. Lifting the receiver again he punched in some number and waited for the call to connect.

"Prime Minister? Sir James Lester...we have a situation..."

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tbc...


	4. Diffused Light x x Stabby

2/9/07

Title: Diffused Light

Author: Squeezynz

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Follows on directly after Splintered Light. Stephen settles into life as Abby's roomy, Nick is reintroduced to his past wife and his future lover, and Connor let's the cat out of the bag.

Only the best fluff here.

**First Author's note**: For those that have difficulty following the story so far...Nick returned from the past to find the present changed(Season One/EpSix)"where's Claudia?"...He and Stephen are sucked into the anomaly and into the past. Three days later they walk through another anomaly, thinking it the same as the first, but find themselves in a present that isn't theirs. It then transpires that Stephen is not the Stephen from Nick's present, but from another possible time line very close to the original. Now the two men, out of their own times, have to live in one, if not completely alien, is certainly new for them and those they now meet for the first time all over again.

Confused? It'll get worse before it gets better...insert wicked grin here ooh this is fun.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

**Second Author note: **As there is little reference as to where anyone lives, or even where the blasted fictional Central Metropolitan University is supposed to be, I have to make all that up as I go along. The only thing we do know is that the Home Office is in the London CBD, and the Forest of Dean is southwest of Gloucester and borders the river Severn(encompassing the Wye Valley, Severn Vale and the Vale of Leadon)...it's a big place. We do know that the University is roughly a couple of hours from the Forest of Dean (Ep.1) so I have placed it somewhere in the Midlands, roundabout Birmingham(which incidentally has a Nature Center that specializes in endangered Reptiles). It also puts it within a few hours of London CBD by car/train or plane. Therefore, for the purpose of this fanfic, the characters live within easy driving distance of the Birmingham CBD and it's Central Metropolitan University...oki doki?

Actually...I just found out this evening that they will soon have a new base of operations called the Anomaly Research Center(ARC) in season two!...I hope they give us a break and tell us where it is, it would make writing fanfics so much easier. "sigh"

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Part one - Abby and Stephen

The trip home in the comfortable company car was notable for several things, not least the roomy interior and well sprung suspension. Connor was happy as a pig in mud quizzing the government driver, who, to give him his due, played along with the young man without losing his patience. Abby was not nearly as absorbed in the passing scenery as she made out because of her overwhelming awareness of the man sitting next to her in the back seat. They had made little or no conversation and lapsed into an easy silence, Connor's chatter filling the quiet and raising a smile on Abby's face when the conversation up front got completely ludicrous. When she did venture to slide a sideways glance at her companion, he seemed preoccupied with the view outside and she was loathe to break into his revelry.

It was only when they executed a passing maneuver, with the car veering slightly, that she found out that Stephen had, in fact, fallen asleep, his heavy head coming to rest against her shoulder. She sat there without moving for several long minutes, but when he didn't make a move to get upright, she reached behind her head and pulled down the rug that had been laying across the back of the seat. Wadding it into a pillow, she then eased his head off her shoulder and onto the folded rug on her knees. He was so completely asleep he didn't stir, his body now taking up most of the back seat and her lap, his legs still stretched out behind the passenger seat so he sat sideways, a dead weight.

He was facing away from her and his hair seemed to have fallen in his face so she carefully swept it back, her fingers keeping up the soothing motion across his forehead as if he was a child with a fever. She kept her touch as light as a feather so as not to wake him, but she soon realised it would take a great deal more than a light touch to rouse him. The traffic was heavy on the M6 and their driver had to maneuver around several large trucks, at one time putting on the brakes when someone tried to cut him off from the middle lane. None of it woke the sleeper, his body completely relaxed against the seat and just rolled with each swerve.

Abby was wondering if it wouldn't be better if she just woke him, especially after Connor looked over the front seat and gave her an arch look, smirking quite appallingly and making crass jokes to the driver, all despite Abby sticking her tongue out at him and waving her hand at him to turn around.

They ran over something on the road and the bump finally roused Stephen, but not enough to make him do more than turn completely over, draw his legs up to lean them against the back of the seat, his boots wedged against the side door, and snake his right hand behind Abby as if she was a pillow. Now his face was pressed against her middle, his hand at her back burning a hole through her t-shirt where it rested below the edge of her leather jacket.

"Oh Lord..."

She had to give him credit for not snoring, and it wasn't his fault that he was exhausted and in dire need of a bath. She couldn't start to imagine what he and Nick Cutter had gone through, stuck in the Permian Era for three days, not knowing whether they'd ever get back to their own time, and then to find out that they hadn't, without knowing if they ever could. She threaded her fingers through his hair, noting the dust trapped in the strands and in the creases of his neck, even inside his ear. The bristles of his whiskers were a dark contrast to his fair skin where his hair had protected it from the sun. His poor nose was almost scarlet with sunburn, as were his cheeks and forehead. All of his features were coated with a layer of grit and grime which only lent a further air of rugged adventurer to his list of attractions.

"Why am I always attracted to the dangerous ones." She whispered, making herself look out of the window and not at the man sleeping trustingly against her body. During the next hour she tried to act nonchalant, so that when Connor twisted around to inform her they were approaching the outskirts of Birmingham, she was able to answer him quite coolly with no evidence that having a man asleep in her lap was anything but an everyday occurrence Knowing full well she was unlikely to ever be in this position with him again, she couldn't resist touching him once more, smoothing his hair as lightly as possible. Unfortunately it wasn't light enough, Stephen stirring against her and burrowing deeper into her middle, his hand at her back pressing hard against her spine as if she were indeed a pillow to be hugged. She held her breath and tried not to take any notice, her insides doing a funny jiggle until he settled and relaxed once more.

Blowing out a breath, she rested her elbow on the window ledge and bit her knuckles.

She must have been mad to suggest this man, this horribly attractive stranger, stay at her place. She'd never keep her sanity having him around and under her feet all the time, at least not unless she did something to ease the tension, which of course was complete madness and likely to prove disastrous.

Her track record with the usual men she fancied was not one to boast about. In fact she'd been so badly burnt by the last one she decided to go cold turkey for nearly a year now, concentrating on her job and ignoring the hollow, empty sound of her flat every time she entered it.

And yet here she was, at the first opportunity, offering refuge to a man who could quite possibly break her heart just by smiling at her. Was she stupid or what!

They were pulling up to Connor's digs, the young man shaking the drivers hand with enthusiasm before getting out, only to come round to Abby's side of the car and signal for her to wind the window down. She did and smiled in response to Connor's grin.

"Sure you don't want a hand getting Rip-van-Winkle into your place? I could get Tom and Duncan to give us a hand, they have a van."

"Thanks Connor, but I'm sure I'll manage." She indicated the driver, "I'm sure Douglas can give me a hand if it comes to that."

"Okay...well...I'll say goodbye then." He lifted up his mobile and waved it at her. "Text me."

"See ya." She wound the window up and caught the driver looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"Ready to go Miss Maitland?"

"Sure...do you need directions to my place?"

"No need."

The car started to pull away and she waved to Connor, his friends appearing in the doorway of the house he flatted in, their faces comical in their surprise. She hoped that Connor was able to resist their interrogation. She had no such worries, the only person likely to care where she'd been was her boss, Tim Parker, the head of her department at the Zoo, and that would only be if she was going to be late or calling in sick, which she never did.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't realise she had gone back to stroking Stephen's hair, or that the subject of her petting was now wide awake and wondering if he had to move anytime soon. Admittedly the back seat of the government car was cramped for his long legs, but laying with your face smooshed against a warm body had it's compensations, especially when that body was running it's fingers through your hair and humming to herself.

All too soon the car was pulling up to the kerb outside her flat. Abby was wondering how she was going to wake Stephen when he solved the problem for her by lifting himself off her lap and swinging his legs around. He sat hunched over, his face in his hands, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before peering a trifle blearily out of the window.

"Um...we're here," Abby remarked, folding the blanket and hugging it to herself. It was still warm and she was loathe to let it go. Douglas was opening the door for her so she got out, handing the rug to him to take.

"Keep it Miss...there's another in the boot."

"Oh...er...thank you. Are you sure?"

"Perfectly Miss."

If she hadn't been partially blinded by the afternoon sun, she would have sworn she saw him give her a slow wink. Stephen was getting out on her side, so she moved out of the way to give him room. Once outside he stretched, several joints giving audible pops as he worked the kinks out of cramped limbs.

"Sir James will be in touch," Douglas was talking to Stephen and handing him a list. "These are numbers you need to know, and a phone you can use in the meantime."

"Yeah...mine seems to be stuffed. Thanks."

"Good luck sir."

"Sure...yeah..." Stephen answered, staring down at the list of numbers while Douglas got back into the black car and smoothly pulled away from the kerb and out of sight. Abby pulled her keyring out of her jacket pocket and unlocked her front door.

"It's not much, but I call it home...come in."

He followed her inside and up a short flight of stairs into a corridor. Abby unlocked another door which opened into her flat proper. Stephen paused on the threshold and looked inside.

Big windows down one side of the room let in the afternoon sun, the light gilding the pieces of furniture scattered about the roomy space. It was open plan with a high ceiling and wooden floor. Several glass fish tank sized cases were dotted about the room, sitting on top of low bookcases at strategic points. A small kitchen led off directly right of the front door and a ladder led up to a loft on the first floor to the left, with a balcony that looked out over the living room. It was light, and airy and big.

"Nice," was his only comment as he made his way further into the flat. It was also warm inside, warmer even than the sunny August afternoon they'd just had. The glass tanks drew his attention and he went over to one, peering through the slightly dirty glass to whatever was inside. He blamed it on his sleep fogged brain, but it took a second or three to realise that a very large albino python was the occupant of the fish tank. It took another second for his normal reaction to snakes to kick in. He recoiled, shooting upright from his slightly bent over position, a move he instantly regretted.

"Hey, take it easy," Abby caught his arm when he swayed alarmingly, dizziness making the room whirl like a merry-go-round. He let her guide him to the couch where he sat down rather heavily, closing his eyes and covering them with an unsteady hand. He could hear her in the kitchen but couldn't lift his head to see what she was doing. At length her fingers pulled his hand away from his face and wrapped them around a mug of tea.

"It's not too hot, you can take a sip...won't take me a moment to fix you something you eat, so get that down you and I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Thank you..." But he was speaking to thin air, Abby already back in the kitchen and banging the cupboard doors about, enough to make him wince. The tea was heaven in a mug and he downed it in two gulps. Leaning his head back against the back of the couch he felt the urge to sleep again but fought it, the lure of food too strong to ignore.

Abby was suddenly back and sitting beside him, a bowl of something smelling incredibly tasty being pushed into his hands and spoon held out for him to use. Unable to stop himself, Stephen upended the bowl and drank the soup down without once touching the cutlery. Abby blinked wide eyed , but didn't say a word, only took the empty bowl back to the kitchen and refilled it. The second bowl followed the first, this time a little more slowly but with the same relish.

"I can see I'm going to have to lay in some supplies. That's some appetite Mister Hart."

"It's been awhile since my last meal...Cycads are not particularly filling."

Abby didn't press him for more about his experience in the Permian Era, but simply handed him a plate of buttered bread, padding off to refill his mug while he munched his way through that as well.

After a second mug of tea he felt considerably better than before. Abby sat on the coffee table sipping her own mug of tea and glancing at him every few seconds.

"If you're feeling a little steadier, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

Stephen smiled at her. "I think the bathroom should be my next stop...don't you?"

"Well...I didn't like to say..." She smiled back, her heart doing flip-flops in her chest.

They remained like that, grinning goofily at each other until Abby suddenly jumped up and the moment was gone.

"Can you get up by yourself, or do you want me to help?"

Stephen thought of saying yes, but honesty prevented him. "Nah...just point me at the shower and I'll get there okay."

On the way, Abby scooped up some fresh towels from a shelf and pushed open the bathroom door.

"There's shampoo in the shower, sorry it's a bit girly and there's some cream in the cabinet to help sooth that sunburn." She paused, trying to think of anything she'd missed. "Oh, oh... and there's a new toothbrush in the drawer under the sink, feel free."

"Practical as well a beautiful...you've thought of everything. Thank you."

He didn't wait for a reply but took the towels and passed her going into the bathroom before shutting the door behind him. Abby stood for a moment and stared at the closed door. The sounds of the water turning on jerked her out of her daydream and catapulted her back to the living room. The last thing she needed was to imagine him stripping off and stepping into her shower, the clear glass door hiding nothing and the air thick with the smell of her own shampoo and soap.

She busied herself tidying up after his meal and checking that the guest bedroom was as neat as she'd left it. The sun had gone down leaving a blazing sunset colouring the sky, some of the colour bleeding through the patterned glass window in the spare room and spilling onto the Marks & Spencer's duvet cover. The water had shut off next door and she left the spare room to put the kettle on. She was filling the kettle at the sink when she heard the bathroom door open. Without thinking she turned her head only to feel her mouth drop open and go dry at the sight before her.

Disheveled, dirty and dog tired, Stephen Hart was ruggedly appealing. With wet hair, three days growth and a towel hanging off his hips he was downright edible.

"I think the kettle is full," Stephen offered helpfully, Abby suddenly realising that water was cascading out of the spout and over her hand, the kettle full to overflowing.

"Um...yes," was all Abby managed to articulate, draining out the excess water before plugging the offending appliance in and pressing the on button. With her back to the sink bench and her fingers gripping the edge of the counter for all their worth, she watched as her new roomy padded towards her, her eyes drawn to his bare feet before tracking up his shins to the bottom edge of the towel and then higher. It had only the appearance of hanging off his hips, but it did little to prevent her eyes skimming over his taut frame on it's upward path, noting the silky hair decorating his collar bone under the strong column of his throat, up to his darkly whiskered chin. Eventually her wandering eyes met his brilliant blue, one dark eyebrow quirked upwards and those damn dimples showing despite his beard.

"I wasn't sure what to do about these," he held up his battered clothes. "I couldn't find a laundry basket and I haven't spotted where you're hiding the washing machine."

"Um...er...pardon?"

He shook the handful of grubby jeans and shirt again to get her attention. "Washing machine?"

"Um...yes. I know I have one somewhere..." Deliberately flexing her fingers to unglue them from the counter, she grabbed the clothes out of his hand and darted across the small kitchen as if all the devils in hell were after her. Flinging open a concealing cupboard revealed a front loader, into which she stuffed his belongings. Slamming the door shut she punched the buttons with an almost savage intensity, only to press the stop button and rummage for the laundry powder before getting it going again.

Stephen had retired to the couch, his hand running repeatedly over his chin, scratching at the itchy growth.

"I can help you with that," Abby blurted out, Stephen swinging his head around to give her an inquiring look. "You need to shave...I...I have some stuff left behind by a previous...um...well, you can use it."

"Thanks...I've grown used to living without a beard ever since my last trip to Africa."

"It's only a manual razor, not an electric..."

"That's fine."

He followed her back to the bathroom and watched from the doorway as she rummaged in the bathroom cupboard under the sink. Emerging triumphant, she held the Schick ultra and can of soap aloft.

"I think I might have something you can wear until you have time to go shopping. That's if you don't mind wearing another blokes gear."

"Not fussed,"

Abby stood aside to let him pass before heading for the bathroom door, her nose twitching when she inhaled a lungful of steamy air redolent of her own soap and something indefinably male. She suddenly remembered something else.

"Oh.. and there's deodorant in the drawer...which you can use...um it was left over..."

"From another absent boyfriend?"

"Gawd no...unwanted present. Never been used, so feel free." She watched him for a moment while he sprayed some of the foaming soap into the palm of one hand then started to smear it over his chin and jaw. Realising that she was staring at the muscles moving in his shoulders and back, she peeled herself off the door jamb and went in search of the clothes she knew were somewhere in her wardrobe. Previous romantic attachments were forever leaving bits and pieces around the flat and even a few friends had left oddments after the occasional late night party. A quick rummage produced a pair of garishly coloured boxers, a couple of t-shirts and a pair of khaki cotton drawstring pants which she didn't recognise and had no idea who they belonged to. It was a meager collection at best, but it would suffice until his own clothes were dry or he had time to go shopping for what he usually wore.

She carried them into the spare room and laid them out on the bed. Frowning, she tried to think what else she might have he could use. Then the man in question entered the room. The sunset had long since died away and the room was now simply lit by the sixty-watt bedside lamp, casting a soft glow over the room. Stephen moved past her to the end of the bed and looked down at the small collection of clothing.

Abby had seen him at his worst, disheveled and dirty, now she was seeing him in his more normal guise, clean shaven and freshly showered. She briefly wondered if her legs would give out and allow her to melt into an inconspicuous puddle on the carpet. The soft light from the lamp highlighted the planes of his chest and arms, diffusing the red of the sunburn on his lean cheeks and casting shadows which in turn emphasized the curve of muscles and tendons from his shoulders to his abdomen. A dark trail of hair led from his navel to beyond the towel and she had to force herself to look away. Stephen appeared to be oblivious to her scrutiny, choosing one of the t-shirts before looking up and giving her a quizzical look.

"I think the kettle's boiled."

"What? Yes...kettle...tea or coffee?"

"You don't have to wait on me Abby, I do know my way around a kitchen."

"'course you do...I'll see you after you get...um ...dressed."

"Sure...and if you're making...coffee please."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"White no sugar."

"Got it."

She made sure to shut the door firmly behind her, knowing full well it's propensity to open by itself if not pulled hard enough to engage the latch.

"Coffee...white no sugar...snap!"

Suddenly she couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear, her step light as she practically bounced into the kitchen and spooned dark powder into the coffee mugs .

After carrying the steaming brews on a tray over to the couch, she spent the next few moments checking on her collection of reptiles. She had a passion for snakes and found working with reptiles of all shapes and sizes a true joy. It was why she'd jumped at the chance of working at the zoo rather than pursue her degree in animal behavioral studies. Certainly a qualification would have put her in a higher wage bracket, but when the job opportunity came her way, there was no contest. Being a part of the reptile programme at the zoo was the pinnacle of her desire, her background and work in conservation all through her teenage years giving her a wide understanding of the problems faced by endangered animals. Now she was actively promoting a new breeding programme for the species currently in the collection and pushing for more to be allowed into the country to expand their scope. As a sideline, she was the one they called when someone decided they no longer wanted their exotic pet, a few months down the line from Christmas – running an active campaign to discourage the dumping of unwanted lizards and other tropical fauna into the unsuspecting countryside. Several of those unwanted reptiles were now housed in her flat and she adored them.

The door to the spare room opened and she looked up. Clad in a t-shirt and the loose pants, Stephen made his way over to her and held out the towel.

"Do you have a line I can hang this up on?"

"There's a drying rack under the window," she pointed it out before going to the couch and picking up her mug of coffee. Stephen joined her and together they sat side by side, enjoying the hot drinks and the peace of the flat. Abby had never been big on watching tv but kept one in the corner of the flat for when there was a documentary worth watching on National Geographic. She had no idea what was the latest hit series in dramas or soaps and wondered if Stephen had a favourite.

"I can put the telly on if you'd like?"

"No thanks, not for me..."

They sipped their coffees and the silence stretched.

"I'm sorry about your fiancée. It must have come as something of a shock."

"Not really. Alison and I had already parted company months ago in my time."

"Of course, I keep forgetting..stupid of me."

"Not at all. It's quite a bit to get your head around...I know I'm struggling."

"I suppose you'll be looking for the anomaly that'll take you back."

"If there is such a thing. For all we know, we could step back through any number of anomalies and never find our way back to where we belong."

Stephen had leant back and was resting his head against the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.

Abby curled her legs up and tucked them under her, wedging herself into the corner so that she could sit sideways and see his face. He had his eyes closed and she wondered if he'd slipped into a doze.

He hadn't, turning his head, still tilted back on the couch, and opening his eyes to fix them on hers.

"How is it that someone as bright and beautiful is rattling around in this flat on her own?"

"Maybe I like being on my own," she ducked her head to hide her face, "maybe I prefer animals to people."

He didn't make any comment and she looked up to see he'd closed his eyes again and turned his face away. She felt a dart of disappointment that he'd not wanted to dig deeper into her reasoning. Pouting, she got off the couch and went to the kitchen, berating herself for being silly enough to care. On returning to the couch she found that he'd fallen asleep again, his body draped over her couch with his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, his heels resting on her coffee table.

"Stephen," then again louder "Stephen!" When this didn't wake him she bent down and place a hand on his arm to shake him. "Stephen, wake up."

The shake did the trick and his eyes flew open, blinking at her in befuddlement for a moment before memory rushed in and he sat up.

"Sorry...must have dropped off. I think I'll crash..."

"Good idea...did you use that cream on your face?"

"No...forgot."

"Go to bed and I'll bring it in to you."

"Thanks Abby, you're an angel."

"Don't think you'll get the royal treatment every day...this is just a special occasion...a one off."

"And I appreciate that." With a monumental effort he levered himself off the couch and padded across to the doorway of the spare room. When Abby returned from the bathroom he was laid out flat on the bed, the covers pushed down to the end. His eyes opened as soon as she entered. He made to sit up but she waved him down.

"Just lay still and I'll smear this over the worst of it. Is it painful? I have paracetamol if it is, and this gel is slightly analgesic."

"Looks worse than it is."

Perching on the edge of the bed near the head, Abby squeezed some of the clear gloop onto her hand. Stephen lay watching her, his eyes following her movements until she bent over him, then he let his eyes slide shut and just enjoyed the feel of her fingers smoothing over the tight skin of his face, easing and taking away some of the sting of the sunburn. It hurt like a bitch but he wasn't about to tell her that.

When she'd smoothed a good thick layer of the ointment everywhere it looked red, she wiped her fingers on a tissue but didn't immediately get off the side of the bed. It had been an odd experience ministering to him, her fingers tingling from the feel of his skin against her own, her unconscious smoothing of those sharply marked brows, the twinge of feminine envy at the sweep of long, sooty lashes fanned out on his cheeks. She's also paid attention to his nose and chin, the soft skin of his upper lip and the firm curve of his jaw. It was disturbingly intimate and she felt hot and flushed from the innocent contact. How it would feel to actually kiss him and touch him in ways that had nothing to do with innocence made her burn inside and out with acute embarrassment.

She got up off the side of the bed and made to leave, Stephen not moving a muscle but giving every appearance of having fallen asleep sometime during the process. It came as a surprise when he caught her hand in his, the pad of his thumb rubbing over the back of her hand.

"Thank you Abby...don't know what I'd have done without you."

His words were slightly slurred and she surmised he was almost out for the count.

"It was nothing...you'll feel better in the morning. Goodnight."

"G'night."

She let her hand slip out of his and went around to the far side to switch off the lamp. She would check up on him later before she went to bed, in case he forgot to pull the covers over. Satisfied that she'd made him as comfortable as possible, she left the spare room and shut the door behind her.

Life was certainly going to be very interesting with Stephen around.

She hoped he didn't decide to go looking for alternative accommodation anytime soon.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc - next chapter – Nick and Helen.


	5. Diffused Light x x NickClaudia

3/9/07

Title: Diffused Light – part two: Nick and the women in his life.

Author: Squeezynz

Nick and Helen, Nick and Claudia - let the fluff flow.

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Professor Nick Cutter stood for several minutes on the pavement outside his home after the car dropped him off. The brick terrace houses screamed of money and middle class contentment, tastefully draped curtains hiding the lives of the people inside. His house was dark, the windows opaque and shuttered. A genteel air of neglect seemed to encompass the three story building and he wondered what he'd find when he finally entered. The Home Office had supplied him with a key, as his own was unlikely to work given the circumstances. It did cross his mind that the Home Office had taken an extraordinary interest in his personal life, but it all fitted with what he had already worked out for himself. Sir James Lester knew far more about the situation with the anomalies that he was giving out, which possibly included knowledge about the alternative time line paradox.

Shaking his head, he walked up the few steps to the front door and turned the key in the lock.

Light from the dying sunset spread over the entrance way, and immediately he started to note the differences. Some of the furniture was very similar to what he'd left behind, pieces that he'd picked out for himself were almost a perfect match, as were the picture choices and nic-nac's scattered about various surfaces. He spent a few minutes picking up souvenir's from various travels around the globe and wondered which were his and which were Helen's.

His stomach growled so he left the front room and headed for the kitchen. Again, everything was eerily familiar but not exactly the same. The fridge was predictably empty so he went to the freezer and pulled out the first thing to hand. Stripping off the plastic wrap he shoved it in the microwave and left it to reheat. He briefly contemplated cracking open a bottle of wine, but on his painfully empty stomach it would have been idiotic. Instead he found a plate and some cutlery and munched on an apple while he waited for the microwave to ping. With his immediate hunger satisfied, he wandered back into the living room, a coffee cup in his hand. At least one thing had traversed the time lines intact – his favourite brand of Brazilian coffee. He thought about seeing if there was any news to be found on the television but quickly dismissed that notion. He was too tired to really focus on anything more energetic than a hot shower and falling into a really soft bed. Taking the mug with him, he scaled the stairs, which felt like climbing Kilimanjaro right at that point. He soaked for an indecently long time in the shower and didn't bother to pick up his grubby clothes, leaving them scattered about the bathroom for the morning. He vaguely remembered that Helen would be coming home sometime that night, and finding his clothes on the bathroom floor would really piss her off, but he was past caring. Downing the dregs of his coffee, he flopped face down on the huge bed and promptly passed out.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

"Nick...wake up you bastard...Nick!"

He drifted up from the depth of his dreams but couldn't raise the energy to turn his head. Helen was home and royally pissed with him.

"You bugger off for six months, no letter, no text and then turn up out of the blue! Where the hell have you been?"

From somewhere he summoned up the energy to roll over onto his back, covering his eyes with his hand as the light from the bedroom chandelier made him squint.

"Hello Helen, have a nice time in South America?"

"Much you care, wretch. You look like hell. I suppose, judging by the state of those rags in the bathroom and your ridiculous sunburn, you've just come back from a holiday in the Sudan? You really should instruct whatever bit of underage fluff you were with, to slop the lotion on more carefully."

"God, you are such a bitch." He only whispered the thought out loud, but it was enough.

"And you are the consummate bastard, Nick Cutter. I was perfectly happy where I was, and on to a promising lead. Then some stuck up flunky from the Home Office drags me onto a plane and tells me my wayward husband has finally showed up. Given how we parted the last time, I'm surprised you bothered to show up at all!"

Yup, thought Nick, somethings never change, whatever the time line

Rolling onto his side, he feigned sleep in the hopes she'd go away.

It worked. With an enraged hiss, Helen slammed out of the bedroom and stomped off down the stairs. He heard her banging about in the kitchen, but was soon dead to the world and dreaming about Claudia.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

When he finally awoke, sometime the following afternoon, he was alone in the house, only the pile of bags and discarded boots at the end of the bed evidence that he hadn't dreamt Helen's return the previous night. At least now there was fresh food in the fridge and he pottered about fixing a substantial breakfast and a huge pot of coffee. He wondered how Stephen was getting on, a smile curving his lips at the thought of Abby fussing over the lanky lab tech. He almost envied the lucky young bastard.

After clearing up his meal, he decided to go online and see if any of his usual sites existed. But even that simple task ran into a snag. He had no idea what his counter part in this time used for a password. He stared at the blinking cursor for a long moment before starting a systematic search of the desk in the office, focusing on where he would hide his passwords. After only a few minutes he found the list, taped to the underside of the mouse pad, a place he'd used in the past himself.

He found surfing the Internet easier than he'd expected, given the more obvious differences in names and suchlike, so in the end he was able to search the local equivalent of Google and find what he was looking for.

Several conspiracy theory forums had already picked up bits and pieces of information about the anomalies, but their theories were completely off whack. He had been right in thinking that anomalies had already made their presence known in this time line, and probably his counter part had been a part of the team investigating them as well. It boggled the mind to think of multiple Cutters, Stephen's and Helen's popping in and out of anomalies all over the different time lines, and across millions of years of Earths evolutionary epochs. It made the task of returning to his own time an almost insurmountable improbability. On the upside, at least there was a Claudia Brown in this time, she hadn't been erased from the equation, as was evident in Stephen's time.

Checking the clock he realised he'd been online for nearly two hours, the sun setting outside the long windows beside the desk. He'd not heard or seen Helen all day and wondered where she'd gone. It was evident she'd not slept in the house last night, but had returned sometime in the morning while he still slept. Or maybe they had a housekeeper who had filled the fridge on her instructions?

An unfamiliar bleeping caught his attention and he followed the sound to the cell phone given to him by Sir James Lester. It showed three missed calls, all from the same number. Bringing up the number he pressed the button to redial and listened to it ring.

"Yes?"

The voice that answered was both foreign and familiar at the same time.

"Claudia?"

"Who is this?"

"Er...right...Nick Cutter...Professor Nick Cutter...you called me?"

"Professor Cutter...sorry, but from what I was told I figured you might have still be asleep. Did I wake you?"

"No...no...been up since three."

"That's good. Sir James thought it best if I visited you in your home for the debriefing. Is that convenient?"

"Er...yes, I suppose so. When did you want to come over?"

"Well, now would be as good a time as any."

"Alright...fine with me."

"Fine...see you in a tick."

He looked at the phone with some amusement. It was certainly Claudia's voice, but clipped and lacking the softness he'd come to expect from her. He was just tucking the phone into the pocket of his jeans when the knocker sounded on his front door.

He padded down the hallway and peered through the peephole before pulling the door wide and staring in some surprise.

"Professor Cutter? I'm Claudia Brown from the Home Office."

"I know...pleased to meet you." He couldn't stop the wide smile that spread over his face at the sight of her. Like everything, she was the same but different. Her usually long, chestnut hair was cut short in a head hugging bob that showed off her liquid brown eyes and full lips to perfection. "That hairstyle suits you," he blurted out.

Claudia looked at him in some surprise, her hand coming up to smooth over the short hair covering her ears. "Thank you...I only took the plunge recently and decided to go for a shorter cut."

As if only just realising the impropriety of discussing her hair with a complete stranger, Claudia swung on her heel and marched past him, into the living room to the left of the front door. Nick followed, appreciating the back view of the tight slimeline skirt with a back slit which showed off her delightful figure. It was one of the things that had made him fall head over heels for the Home Office girl, the delicious curves in all the right places. Claudia had turned and must have seen some of what he was thinking because she hurriedly sat down and placed her briefcase on her knees in readiness to start his debriefing.

Nick flung himself in a deep set chair opposite her and waited for her to speak.

She pulled out a small recording device and placed it on the coffee table between them, before shuffling a series of different coloured folders and setting them out beside the recorder.

"Do you have any problem with me recording our conversation?" She asked without lifting her head.

"None whatsoever. Can I get you something to drink?"

She looked up from her paper sorting and looked surprised to be asked, her full lips parted in a near perfect 'oh'.

"I'll have whatever you're having," was her final answer. Nick smiled and got to his feet, doing a quick visual check before finding the drinks cabinet and pouring himself a decent measure of fine malt scotch. He poured one for Claudia, but with a less generous hand.

"Here." He handed her the tumbler and was pleased to see she didn't bat an eyelid over his choice.

"Thank you. Now, Professor Cutter..."

"Nick."

"Um...yes. Nick...I was hoping you could take me back to what happened to you six months ago, and since."

"No." Nick stated emphatically, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"No you won't or no you can't."

"Neither and both. What do you know of why you're here today?"

"I was called by Sir James yesterday and asked to come here and debrief you. I'm aware you have been missing for six months, along with your assistant," she glanced at her notepad, "a Stephen Hart."

"Well for starters, I'm not Nick Cutter...at least not the Nick Cutter everybody knows in this time line."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Let's not mess about here. You know about the anomalies or you wouldn't be working with that Home Office hatchet man James Lester. I'm guessing that the Nick Cutter of your world was also working on the same project, or something similar, and disappeared along with his assistant six months ago."

He paused and took another sip of his drink, "how am I doing so far?"

Claudia stared back at him with one delicate eyebrow arched and her lips pursed.

"Dead on the money Prof...Nick."

"Right...well let's stop all this pussyfooting around and talk about what's been happening and what's been coming through those anomalies."

"As you wish. From what Sir James has told me, the Stephen Hart that arrived with you is not the one from your own time line. How is it you are so sure of this?"

Nick swirled the last of the malt in the bottom of his glass and considered his words carefully.

"When I returned through the anomaly back into what I thought was my time, everything was exactly as I left it...except that you were gone and no-one had ever heard of you."

He swallowed down the last of the scotch and perched the glass on the arm of the chair. Claudia sat unmoving on the edge of her seat, her eyes wide as she considered what he'd just told her.

"I see," was all she eventually said.

"Well if you see, then I wish you'd bloody well tell me, because I don't see how this is going to be put right...and that means I'm stuck here in another man's life while God knows what's happening in mine!"

His outburst snapped her out of her enforced stillness, Claudia reaching down for one of the folders and opening it.

"I thought you might be interested in the blood work and fingerprints taken from you and Mister Hart. They show a number of similarities to your counter parts, but enough differences that we can tell you all apart. That is, if you were ever to come face to face...which, I have to say, the chances of that happening have been calculated as being astronomical...at this time."

"Precisely. Want another drink?"

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

The afternoon dissolved into evening, Claudia and Nick stopping briefly to create something to eat from the contents of the fridge. They worked in compliment to each other, as if they'd known each other for years, finding common ground in their shared knowledge of the anomalies and a equal passion in solving the enigma. She was interested to hear his theories about evolutionary zoology and how the time portals had affected the records in the fossil remains, while he was fascinated to learn about some of the differences between his time and hers. After the meal they retired to his office where Claudia hooked up her lap top to his and downloaded all the current information available, which is where Helen found them several hours later.

She stood leaning up against the door jamb for several minutes watching the two of them work together, her lips twisted in a wry smile as she recognised herself a decade earlier. This was how she and Nick used to work together, sharing opinions, listening to theories, laughing over absurdities and eventually arriving at a point they could both agree on. For her, that hadn't happened for a very long time.

But that was in the past, she had her own agenda now and Nick Cutter wasn't a part of her life anymore.

"How cozy...is she the latest? I have to admit she's a cut above the usual run of student bits-on-the-side!"

They both jumped, Claudia jerking away from Nick's chair, her hand snatched back from where it had been resting on his shoulder while she pointed out something on the screen. Nick merely closed his eyes for a moment before swiveling his chair to face his wife.

"Hello Helen...thought you might have flown back to South America."

"Funny Nick...nope, I needed to catch up with some people, as I was back in the country."

"Always were one for making connections," Nick muttered, turning back to face the laptop.

"Er...Claudia Brown...Home Office," Claudia announced, holding out her hand for Helen to shake.

Helen unwound herself and took it, shaking it briefly before crossing her arms and leaning back against the door frame. "Sorry about the bit-on-the-side thing...got to be a bit of a habit."

"No problem, I quite understand."

"Do you now. Well, I'm only here to pack, then I'm off, as you so rightly say, back to Buenos Aires, and the expedition I was called away from."

"Try not to get in the way of any poison darts," Nick muttered over his shoulder as his wife disappeared from view.

"Maybe I should go..." Claudia made to leave but Nick shot out a hand and forestalled her.

"Ignore Helen...you know, it's almost a comfort to know that she's the same whatever time line she occupies."

"I'm sorry,"

"I'm not. I mourned her eight years ago when she went missing in my own time. I refuse to mourn her again and wait another eight years for you to turn up."

"Nick...I..." her stammered apology was lost in a squeak of surprise when Nick deftly twirled her around and pulled her back to land in his lap. "Professor Cutter...hmphm!"

Her surprised protest was lost when Nick decided to act on the longing he'd felt since she'd walked through the door, and kissed her.

To her everlasting surprise, Claudia let him. She couldn't have explained it if asked, but sitting in Professor Nick Cutter's lap and being thoroughly kissed just seemed the most natural thing in the world. His arm was holding her securely in his lap but she made doubly sure by looping her arms about his neck and returning his embrace with interest.

They never saw Helen standing in the doorway or the look of bitterness that chased across her face. They also didn't hear the front door bang when she left, not once looking back.

Minutes passed before either came up for air, their eyes looking so intently into the other that you'd have thought they were melding minds, not just lips.

"Nick...I don't think this is at all the right thing to do... I mean...we don't know each other!"

"I know that in whatever time I'm in...you're the woman I've been waiting for."

"But Nick...what about..." she lost her train of thought at the same time he captured her mouth once more, his hands splayed against her back to hold her more securely against him. Caution, reason and logic all flew south and she gave herself up to the delight of being kissed by a man who knew just what to do with the gifts God gave him.

If she had taken a moment to consider, she would have said that Nick Cutter was hardly the most handsome man she'd ever become involved with, or even the most intelligent or charming. There was just something about his rugged features, the crinkles about his eyes, their blue intensity and the passionate intelligence that blazed within them, that just melted her on the spot. And boy, did he know what to do to turn her to jelly.

Helen Cutter must have windmills in her head to turn her back on this man.

The necking session in the study soon progressed to the couch, but when things got too hot and heavy there, Nick simple picked her up and carried her into the guest suite downstairs, the carpet quickly littered with clothes and shoes until there was nothing left between them but skin, and flesh, and heat.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

"Sir James will be expecting a report from my meeting with you."

"What are you going to tell him?"

A lazy finger was tracing a pattern on her bare shoulder and down her arm, before tracking back up again.

"What do you think?"

"That you found me to be the most irresistible man you've ever met and had to seduce me on the spot."

Warm lips replaced the hand and she stretched her neck to allow him access to the satin skin below her ear.

"I could tell him that you are an accomplished womanizer and not safe to let loose on the female population." She felt his smile against her collar bone.

"You could, but I think he'd believe that more readily of Stephen, not me."

She felt the slick lap of his tongue against her nape and couldn't stop a shudder of pleasure snaking down her back.

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this...I'm not usually so...seducable. In fact, I have a reputation..."

"You have a reputation?" she could imagine his sandy eyebrows climbing to his hairline.

"Yes, I do...I'm known to be a veritable ice princess...untouchable..." she tried to sound irritable, or at least authoritative, but failed completely.

"I'd have to dispute that...I've touched you and you're definitely not made of ice...quite the opposite."

The arm that had been resting about her middle under the sheet now pulled her around so that she faced the man she'd only met a few hours before, but seemed to have been waiting for all her life.

"What are we doing Nick? I mean God!...I met your wife barely two hours ago, and now I'm in your bed."

"Spare bed actually," he murmured, bending his head to capture her lips. "And I intend to repeat what we did just a few minutes ago...unless you'd rather I didn't?"

He paused, breaking the kiss, and staring down into her flushed face. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Stop now, and I might have to hurt you."

"I'll take that as a no."

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

In the end the report was filed and sent of to Sir James at two in the morning, Claudia sitting at Nick's desk with only a towel around her torso for modesty's sake. As soon as she clicked send, she shut down the lap top and padded back to the spare room. Nick was still asleep, the sweep of his back visible above the sheet, his head buried in the pillows. She dropped the towel and climbed back into his bed, leaning down to kiss the scattering of freckles spread over his shoulders.

She refused to think about the morality of what she was doing, or what she had done. He'd spoken at length about the Claudia in his time, and the longing she heard in his voice was heartbreaking. She never imagined, that morning, that her day would end with her making love to a married man, one that she discovered knew her in an alternative time line, plus one that she had fallen for the first moment she'd met him.

She wondered if it was like that for the other Claudia. She suspected it was.

This was going to make everything so much more complicated.

Ignoring her niggling conscience, she wiggled down in the bed and draped herself over his warm, recumbent form, listening with one ear to the steady thump of his heart as she slipped slowly into a dreamless sleep.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...next, Connor Temple and keeping mum.


	6. Diffused Light x x x Connor

3/9/07

Title: Diffused Light Pt.3 – Connor Temple

Author: Squeezynz

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**Author's note**: It's been pointed out that my grasp of the terminology associated with the whole Primeval premise is shaky at best, so apologies to the paleontology geeks out there who pick that up.

I'm doing my best to give myself a crash course in it all, but I'm bound to make mistakes along the way. I'll try not to be too hopeless with the technical terminology.

Connor is actually the hardest character to write about, as there is very little known about him. Even after watching all the episodes, there's not much to add to his bio.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"So tell us, what happened, where did you go?"

"Yeah...what have you gone and done Con?"

His friends had marched him inside and manhandled him to the couch, afterwards standing over him to stop him leaving, Tom going so far as to pull over an angle lamp and shine it in his face.

"Leave it out guys...ow!" Tom had got carried away and clouted him on the head with the hot lamp.

"Sorry...who was that funky chick in the car?"

"One at a time lads...the chick is Abby...she's some sort of reptile expert and before you start thinking anything, she's already found her mister-right-now...he was in the back of the car with her."

"Did you see him Duncan?"

"I did not Tom...I think our friend here is making it all up. Maybe she was some hot movie producer who's heard about our fan film and wants to bring it to the big screen!" Duncan held up his hands to frame an imaginary picture screen as if positioning an action shot. "Maybe I'll be the next James Cameron!"

"Hah...more like the next Alejandro Jodorowsky!" Tom retorted, smirking horribly.

"Oh that's low...El Topo is a seventies cult film." Duncan fired up, prepared to defend himself against such a heinous accusation.

"Thank God he didn't manage to pull the Dune project together...or the world would have been a very different and scary place!" Tom bit back, both of them ignoring Connor who slumped back and rolled his eyes.

"Guys...guys, don't bother asking me any more, 'cos I can't say anything," he mimed pulling a zip across his mouth. Tom and Duncan peered suspiciously at him.

"Did they get you to sign anything?"

"Er...maybe," Connor tried to squirm away, but Duncan plopped down on the couch and held him in a half Nelson.

"Hah...knew it!" Tom crowed, waggling the light around so that it cast outlandish shadows over the disheveled interior of the digs. "It's a government cover-up."

"How can it be a cover up when I don't know anything?"Connor argued, pushing Duncan off of him.

"Yeah, suppose you must be right. I mean, what the hell would any government agency want with a spotty nerd like you Con." Tom brayed, flicking the angle lamp away and throwing himself down beside Connor on the couch, squashing him up against Duncan. "It's not like you know anything of importance," Tom winked at Duncan over his friends head. "The only thing you do know is that stupid dinosaur program you've been working on since we were in kindergarten." He snorted and Duncan hooted with laughter, the two friends keen to raise a laugh on Connor's face.

Usually the young student flared up and a battle was on, but today Connor remained uncharacteristically quiet and his friends stared at him in surprise.

"Come on mate...it's just a joke! We love your research database...couldn't play half the games on the planet without reference to it...that and the Imperial Armies Compendium." At the mention of that worthy tome, both of the friends made bowing gestures before performing some complicated hand pattern over Connor's head.

"Leave it out, would you." Hacked off with his friends, Connor levered himself out from between them and off the couch. Tom and Duncan watched him in some surprise.

"We was only kidding Con," Duncan wheezed, heaving himself forward to perch on the edge of the aging couch. "Ya got to admit, it's all rather mysterious...like something from MIB or the Y-Files."

"Whatever...I have stuff I need to do. I'll see you guys later." Connor snatched up his canvas bag and crammed his hat back on his head. "I'm going to crash."

Tom and Duncan exchanged a look before both getting off the couch to spring themselves on Connor, both putting an arm about his shoulders and helping him on his way to his room.

"Don't forget...it's Thursday...DVD night, and I get to pick," Tom told him, letting him go and shoving Connor towards a thickly painted purple door. "Don't get too involved with your love life, you're buying pizza, remember?"

"Er...no, I don't think so...not tonight, I'm beat. Another night...eh?"

Before his friends could do more than exchange a horrified glance, Connor had darted into his room and slammed the door shut, sliding the bolt across for good measure.

Since losing the lease on his own flat, he'd had to bunk in with the boys, in their laughably small 'spare room'. It was just big enough for a bed, and not much else. Dumping his canvas bag on the bed, he flopped down and lay there staring up at the black ceiling with its stuck-on, glow in the dark stars and thought about the days events.

Abby's face swam into his vision and he smiled to himself. He'd used some of his best chat up lines on her during the drive in to London, and he was sure they'd been working. That was until the silly bint slapped eyes on that great, tall beanpole Stephen Hart. At that point he saw all his hard won ground slip away, the chisel jawed lummox stealing his girl from under his nose, with nothing more than a smile. Life was not being particularly fair to Connor, especially in the girlfriend department.

Of course, he still had his penpal in Gambia, but it wasn't much cop for a Friday night out. Not that he could remember the last time he went out on a Friday night, his nose usually buried in a book, or his time spent on the Internet or the latest game. Which reminded him, he'd have to check and see in the shop had Wraith Planet III in stock yet. It had been on order for months.

Ignoring his friends, who were banging about outside his door, Connor played the days events back over, examining all that he could remember, and especially recalling Abby's expressive face, even if he couldn't exactly recall everything she said.

It was a shame she didn't offer for him to take over her spare room, he could do with the space.

With the strains of the theme tune for Captain Scarlet playing loudly in the next room, Connor drifted off to sleep and dreamt about huge, sharp toothed dinosaurs chasing him in a black car down the M6, while a white blond haired girl snogged some ugly git in the back seat.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

The bang of the front door woke him the next morning, his bed looking like he'd been wrestling alligators all night. Feeling irritable and still tired, Connor shuffled out of his room and flopped down onto one of the mismatched retro fifties chair before resting his elbows on the table and peering blearily at his flat mates.

"There's a good picture on page three," Tom informed him, not bothering to lower the paper he was reading. "Another monster sighting. That's four in as many days."

Connor ignored him, but reached for one of the issues sitting stacked in the center of the table. In the best tradition of the Y-Files, the boys regularly collected the less mainstream magazines and trash papers, scanning every edition for tit-bits about anything and everything. Tom was the worst, seeing government conspiracies in everything from the moon landing to what they put in yogurt. Duncan played along, and Connor was only interested in anything to do with dinosaur sightings, of which there had been a great deal over the last six months.

Now he had a clue as to why, but no one to tell. Scratching at his cheek, he flipped through the closest edition to find the article. Sure enough, there was a half page, blurry photo, probably taken by a cell phone, of an indistinguishable creatures with possibly big teeth and a long tail. The excitable reporter said it had been sighted numerous times on the outskirts of the Swinley Forest and around Bracknell.

Keeping his excitement under a tight rein, Connor casually folded the paper and tucked it under his arm before getting to his feet.

"Um...I'm off out today...I'll see you guys...oh...sometime." He started to back away from the table.

Tom lowered his own paper and peered suspiciously at him.

"What are you not telling us Con?"

"Yeah," chimed in Duncan, around a mouthful of toast.

"Nothing really...I just remembered I have to be...er ...somewhere...ya know?"

"No," said Tom, putting the paper down and waving a fork at Connor. "You come back from a trip in an MIB car, don't tell us anything, then suddenly announce you're off...are we no longer your best friends?" he slanted a look at Duncan, "I don't think we're his best friends anymore Dunk!"

"No...guys...it's just...I've seen something advertised...down south...have to go...great opportunity."

"Nah...I think you're up to something." Rounding the table, both Tom and Duncan surrounded Connor and made a grab for the paper under his arm. Connor tried to jump away but slipped as he was only wearing socks on the wooden floor. They all went down in a heap of arms and legs, Tom getting his hands on the paper and yanking it from Connor's grasp.

"Give that back!"

"No way, my son. Something about that sighting has got you all fired up and I want to know what."

"Get off me Duncan... give it back Tom...there's nothing..."

"Ahah..." Tom held the paper aloft, his height giving him the reach to keep it well out of Connor's flailing fingers. "I smell a road trip."

"Road trip...road trip," Duncan chorused, grinning at his friend with bits of toast decorating his teeth.

"No...you can't..."

"And how were you supposing to get to the south of this fair land without the aid of the Mystery Machine?"

Connor glowered at his friends, but stayed quiet. The Mystery Machine was an aging, orange vee-dub Combi, tastefully decorated on the inside in shades of puce and electric yellow and jointly owned by the pair.

"I think we need to plan a weekend getaway me old pal...fancy a lift to Swinley Forest?" Tom grinned down at Connor, who glared back at him.

"You can't come...you just can't."

"Oh I think you doth protest too much, sunshine. We have the wheels and we're going, with or without you. So either come clean and tell us what yesterday was all about...or say sionara as we drive away."

"Has anyone ever told you, you're evil?" Connor hissed, scrambling for the paper and snatching it from Tom's hand. "Okay...you guys can come, but you're not to breath a word to anyone."

"Like it hasn't been already spread all over the papers..." Duncan snorted, going back to the table to finish his interrupted meal.

"I mean it guys...my neck will be on the line if you blab."

"Scouts honour," Tom held up three fingers and tried to look serious.

"More like, swear on your directors cut of the Kill bill collection, limited edition signed box art." Connor retorted, scowling at Tom.

"Ouch...that's serious...I mean really serious. Alright...I promise...Duncan?"

"I promise, swear on my sixties gum card collection, The Avengers, season two. Good enough?"

"Okay...look, I'm really serious here. We have to keep this just between us."

"We hear you. So, are you going to tell us about yesterday?" Tom pushed.

"No."

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Connor dozed in the back of the Combi while Duncan drove them south towards Berkshire and Bracknell. The boys were discussing the dubious merits of the newly released compendium of comic editions and the comparison between Batman and Spiderman. Connor listened with half an ear and wondered how he was going to ditch his friends when they finally reached the outskirts of Bracknell. He done some research and narrowed down the area most likely to be hiding whatever the creature was, but he didn't want his two friends to get wind of what they were really dealing with. He felt bad using them, and their vehicle, but he was running a little empty on the money front and needed the transport. He'd already extrapolated which creatures the blurry picture could be, from it's size and general shape. He would have liked more detail, but that would have to wait.

With what he now knew of the anomalies, and the likelihood it was a creature from the Earth's past, he judged from the size it could be anything from a plant eating Rhynchosaur from the late Triassic period, to maybe a mammal like reptile from the late Permian Period. Without some form of positive evidence it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Just narrowing it down to a veggy or a meat eater would be a start. After checking the latest intel from selected forums and blogs, he closed his lap top and settled in for a long drive. At least he didn't have to worry about paying for petrol. Tom and Duncan were so hyped they had already offered to bankroll him. Now he just had to find a way to ditch them without completely losing them as friends.

Tricky.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It took a little over two hours to reach Bracknell, with a stopover for petrol along the way. Once there they stopped for directions to Swinley Forest while having a bite of lunch. The area, they found out was criss-crossed with rides, walks and trails plus dotted with lakes, reservoirs and streams. There was even a fenced off area with Ministry of Defense signs warning people to keep out which got Tom very excited. Connor tried to diffuse his enthusiasm by pointing out that Sandhurst was figuratively just over the fence, but that didn't deter Tom.

Traffic was light for a Friday so they tooled along the boundary of the huge parkland down the Bagshot Road past the golf course, all the time looking out for anything remotely suspicious.

Connor had studiously refused to divulge anything, but his resolve was weakening. Rain was starting to fall and the trees looked darker and darker the longer they cruised around the perimeter. Duncan was getting bored and voted they retire to a pub for something to eat and drink, Tom arguing that they should stay, but Connor, for once, sided with Duncan and voted for the pub. They found one, not far from one of the more accessible trails, and piled out the Combi into the welcoming interior of the Old Manor, just off the London Road. They stayed there and imbibed until it was nearly dark and Connor found his opportunity to slip away.

He'd sourced a map online that detailed the area and likely hotspots from accounts given so far and he wasn't about to be put off. Leaving Tom and Duncan propping each other up in a booth, he slipped down the back corridor and out through the kitchen into the alley.

There was plenty of traffic about and it was still light enough once you got outside, the sky clear and bright. He tramped for half an hour to bring him close to the outskirts of the wood, always checking that his mates hadn't followed. Satisfied, Connor pulled his hat down further and plunged into the woodland. He carefully skirted the information center and headed towards Gravel Hill, not using a torch in case he alerted security. He assumed there was some sort of security, with Sandhurst a couple of kilometers away, and the fenced of MOD area., so he wasn't taking any chances to blow it this early on in the game.

As the evening wore on, and his path took him deeper into the trees, the sound of cars and evidence of human habitation started to get less frequent and noticeable. Occasionally he stumbled over a biking track, cleared of the ever present leaves, the bare earth slippery underfoot. He was glad it wasn't raining anymore, turning his collar up to fend off the slight chill in the air.

He had just paused on a rotten log to take a swig from his canteen, when a frenzied barking set up not far from where he was perched. For a second he panicked, thinking the dogs were after him, but then a deep throated roar above the sound of the shrill yips told him a different story. Whatever the dogs were after, it wasn't human and certainly not Connor Temple. He stayed where he was until the barking died away and the forest fell silent again. Emboldened, he stepped out from behind his shelter and carefully advanced towards where he thought the dogs had been.

As he got closer he slowed down and decided to risk the glow from his penlight torch to look at the ground. It took two goes because his hands were shaking so much, but eventually he got the torch going and swung the thin beam of light over the area. He had guessed surprisingly accurately and found the ground all around churned up, as if by a crowd of people or animals. There were prints from the dogs, their handlers and other, smeared and incredible prints from an animal much larger than a dog or human. He crouched down and tried to gage the size of the print with the spread of his hand. It was much wider.

"Yes!" He silently punched the air before turning his attention to the surrounding trees and vegetation. Plenty of branches were snapped or broken, one tree hit with such force that the bark was splintered, showing the white of the heartwood in the near gloom. Sap was still seeping out of the wound and Connor could smell it.

Whatever the dogs had been chasing, had headed off away from Connor so he started to walk in the same direction. After a time he once more heard barking, this time added to the sharp rattle and crack of gunfire. Ahead he could just see lights through the trees, with something flickering like a strobe. He felt almost breathless with excitement and crouched down, switching off his torch to see better. Something cracked loudly off to his left and he jumped, glancing off in that direction but seeing nothing. His heart was thumping in his chest and for the first time he doubted the sensibility of what he was doing.

Maybe he should have called Abby, or better Cutter...or maybe he should have just sent Lester an email.

His mouth had gone dry and he lifted his canteen to take another swig. A loud report, much closer than the last, made him drop the metal bottle to the ground. Scrabbling to put the lid on, he wasn't paying attention and didn't see the butt of the gun swinging down to clout him very effectively on the back of the head.

The world went suddenly dark for Connor Temple.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	7. Oblique Light

4/9/07

Title: Oblique Light

Author: Squeezynz

Stephen/Abby first, then some of the gang get back together.

**Author Note**: regarding the whole Time Paradox issue. For the purpose of this work of fiction, I am using the theory of Membrane(or Brane) Cosmology, where the universe, or multiple universes are separated by fourth dimensional membranes which, when they rupture due to contact with each other, cause breaches or breaks, with indicators of strong electromagnetic and gravitational forces (which is why the compass goes haywire). I won't go into all the boring details, but suffice to say, the anomalies used in the series suggest that such breaks are taking place all through the fourth dimension of time, hence the scene of the nexus in episode four where multiple breaks(anomalies) were clearly visible, all leading to alternative universes/time lines. There are several theories about time travel, including the butterfly effect, the grandfather paradox and a whole host of others incorporating quantum physics and particle physics. (Oy, my head aches). Whatever theory you choose to adopt, I've chosen one that allows the characters NOT to explode, die or pass out if they meet their contemporaries within the parallel universe they are currently inhabiting. But I also posit that they are unlikely to meet their other selves, because that's the way the universe works. Which kinda means, that whatever time line or universe you come from, your counter part has already left it, either sooner or later or at the same time as you arrive. Kinda like chasing your own tail. Which makes it possible for the character to exist and live an alternative life even when they are in a universe they weren't born into. (pass the aspirin) It also allows different characters from different time lines to interact as if they've known each other all the time, despite coming from parallel universes. (that's it, I'm stopping now before I explode)

there'll be questions later. runs away laughing insanely

ps: all and any errors in terminology or usage are mine alone. Feel free to nitpick, flames toast my mashmallows LOL

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The sun was well advanced when Stephen Hart emerged from Abby's spare room and faced a world not his own.

The converted warehouse that Abby called home was quiet, only the faintest of road noise penetrating the thick, brick walls. The windows that usually caught the morning sun, now let in the reflected rays bouncing off the building next door, the second hand sunlight illuminating the open plan living space. He'd hardly noticed much the previous day, being so tired and somewhat in shock. Now he looked about and couldn't help a smile curving his lips at the eclectic collection of retro and modern furniture arranged in no particular order. Odd hanging mobiles and strangely arranged shelving, reminiscent of school lockers decorated several walls and an old lift with a mesh door was a feature of another. He hadn't even noticed that the main door into the flat was in fact a sliding door, unusual in itself but harking back to it's warehouse origins. Deciding to delay further exploration of his new living space, he reeled into the bathroom and sloshed water over his sticky face. The ointment Abby had so soothingly smoothed into his skin had worked a miracle and he no longer resembled a boiled lobster.

Of course it would peel, but he wasn't so vain as to worry on that score. Stripping off the t-shirt that sported an old fashioned peace logo, he inspected the puckered scar on his shoulder, a reminder of the attack by the giant, primeval ancestor of the centipede they'd discovered in the abandoned underground bunker. The wound had largely healed, but every now and then, when he was tired, it ached, giving him nightmares that the neurotoxin was still working it's poison on his body. Those nights he woke up yelling and sweating, then staying up until the dawn, too afraid to close his eyes. He'd never told Nick or anyone about the dreams, feeling that the less he spoke about them, the more likely they were to fade on their own accord. Unfortunately, they still came back when he was sick or depressed, situations he tried to avoid as much as possible.

He considered it a stroke of luck that he'd been beyond dreams last night, or else Abby would have had second thoughts about inviting him as a tenant.

He heard the sliding door pulled back and left the bathroom, pulling the t-shirt back on. Abby was struggling with several shopping bags and he ran over to help her, catching one just before it hit the ground.

"Good catch. That's got eggs in it."

They carried the groceries into the small kitchen annex, and Stephen filled the kettle while Abby shucked her jacket and scarf before entering the small space again.

"I'm ashamed to say I've only just got up." Stephen admitted with a rueful smile.

"You needed to sleep. I did check on you several times, but didn't have the heart to wake you, you looked so peaceful." She passed him several items to put in the cupboard beneath the sink.

"That cream you gave me took all the sting out of the sunburn,"

"Knew it would. You certainly look a better colour today and not to Panda-ish." She carried the tray of eggs over to a pottery jar shaped like a disgustingly self satisfied hen.

"You should have said you were going shopping, you could have had that card Lester gave me,"

Abby paused in her unloading of the eggs. "I'm glad you say that, because I did use it," she pulled the card out of her jeans pocket and held it out for him to take. "I snaffled it last night. I thought, if you were up to it, we could go shopping for some clothes for you."

"Sure. What about my other clothes?"

"Sorry...forgot all about them. They're still in the washing machine and dripping wet." She giggled. "I'm not very good. I tend to be a one-wash-a-week kind of person."

"Better than me, I usually run out of socks before I put a load in," he grinned, and she laughed, the kettle adding it's high pitched whistle until the switch flicked automatically off.

She fished in her jeans pockets again and produced the cell phone Sir James had given Stephen. "Didn't want you woken unnecessarily," she shrugged, handing it over. "I think there might be a couple of messages from him."

Stephen took the phone and spent the next few minutes familiarising himself with the menu's and functions. Like everything in this world not his own, it was similar but also different in subtle and sometimes unexpected ways. The message were from Sir James, outlining details of a meeting he was setting up for Stephen and Nick to bring them up to speed on the Anomaly Program to date. A car was being sent for him and Abby the following morning. Switching off the phone he laid it on the counter.

Abby held out a mug for him and together they left the kitchen and sat at the table.

He felt disorientated and, unusually for him, suddenly shy. Despite his strong feeling for Abby, he had to remind himself that this wasn't the girl he'd left behind in his own time. For that, he was somewhat grateful, as the bombshell of his affair with Helen would have left him a monumental mess to clear up in his personal relationships, no least with Nick and more importantly with Abby. More likely, the Abby of his time would have consoled herself with Connor and never spoken to him again.

"That's the third time you've sighed in as many minutes, care to share?"

He looked up and grimaced. "Sorry...I was just thinking about..."

Abby interrupted. "Look, I know you knew me...in your time...and I'm guessing, tell me if I'm wrong, that you and she...that you..." she stammered to a halt.

"You're wrong. I mean, not entirely wrong, but I did know Abby pretty well in my time, and I think she liked me...a little. But we never...I mean it wasn't...we didn't..." now it was his turn to grind to a halt.

He blew out a breath and raked his fingers through his already disordered hair. "Look. This whole time line business is already seriously messing with my head. Everything I thought I knew, the people, the world, everything is different. You're different, apparently the Nick Cutter I thought I knew is a different man, this whole world...in subtle ways, is different. I know you are Abby Maitland, my eyes and brain tell me that, but I also knew an Abby Maitland back there...we shared experiences that it's obvious you haven't had here. Yes, I had...feelings for her, and maybe she did for me, but even if I was to go back today...it's all changed." Frustrated that he wasn't making himself clear, Stephen pushed up from the table and walked over to one of the windows, placing his hands on the wooden frame and leaning forward, his shoulders tense, his dark head bowed.

Abby came up silently behind him. Tension was rolling off him in waves and she didn't know how to help him. Unable to remain static, she lightly laid her cheek against his back, her arms coming around his middle to loosely hold him. He felt rigid and hot, the t-shirt already holding his unique scent combined with her own soap and the previously unused deodorant. For a brief second he went stiff, then his muscles relaxed and he allowed her to hug him. There was nothing sexual about her touch, she just wanted him to know he wasn't alone.

When he moved to straighten up, she released him and stepped back. Stephen turned to face her, his eyes clear and focused on her. She unashamedly stared back, the silence between them stretching while the sun slid further down the wall outside, back-lighting the scene as if on cue. As the sun flared off a window opposite, she was blinded for a second, Stephen's face cast into shadow. Blinking she didn't realise he'd moved until a pair of very warm lips covered her own for a few precious seconds before releasing her.

"Thank you Abby,"

She stood stunned into immobility as he moved around her and back to the table to resume drinking his coffee. It was as if she'd just been shocked by a million volts, her body tingling and warm. It remained with her on the short trip back to the table and her picking up her mug to take a steadying sip. Across from her Stephen sat back in his chair, his head turned to look out of the window, his fingers curled in a relaxed way about his own mug.

Her drink finished, and still feeling like someone had just ignited a barrage of fireworks in her insides, Abby collected the mugs and carried them back to the kitchen. A few moments later Stephen trailed in and leant against the door frame.

"I can't really go back to London in these," He held out his hand either side of his loose trousers, pinching the seams to spread them wide like a skirt. Abby giggled.

"Not exactly up to Home Office standard,"

"Quite...are we far from the shops here?"

"Of course, you weren't really awake when we arrived. I'm just around the corner from the High Street." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's not too late, if we hurry...Marks and Sparks are open until seven, and it's just coming up to six now." She paused, a worried frown creasing her brow. "Unless you'd rather shop somewhere more up market, but there's not much open around here after six...for clothes anyway."

"They'll do fine. Most of my clothes end up having to be disposed off, for one reason or another, in my line of business," he laughed, thinking of his plaid shirt and ruined jeans from the last adventure. "Let's go and see what they have on offer for itinerant, time traveling lab techs."

Abby brandished the card Sir James had given him. "Here, you'd better take this...I might get carried away and max it out." But Stephen only pantomimed patting himself down.

"No pockets...you'll have to be my minder for the time being." He looked down and indicated his bare feet. "Do you think they'll take issue with my vagabond status?"

"Hang on a tick...I'm sure I have something you can wear."

Half an hour later they were happily browsing the menswear section of the High Street branch of M&S, Stephen sporting a snazzy pair of tasseled moccasins to go with his lightweight trousers and peace sign t-shirt. Abby was wearing her usual ensemble of black leather jacket, long silk scarf, singlet, black jeans and boots, garnering the pair of them some odd looks from the staff as they sauntered about the aisles.

Stephen had an armful of various items, among them his favourite style of long sleeve t-shirt in various colours, a selection of short sleeved shirts and several pairs of jeans. He was eyeing up a fetching leather jacket on display when Abby appeared with further additions to his burgeoning wardrobe.

"Hey, I only need a few things...we're not here to buy the whole shop!"

"Men...you have no idea. Which do you prefer...boxers or briefs?"

"Woah...aren't I allowed any secrets?"

"Well, the shop is only open for another half hour...the staff are already getting antsy. I just thought it would make it easier if you go try on some stuff, while I gather up the essentials."

"Alright...but nothing with dinosaurs on alright? I'm pretty much a medium in most things, so take your pick...anything cotton, hipsters if they have them."

"Sock size?"

"Eleven."

"Shoes?"

"Boots."

"Slippers?"

"Funny..."

"Pyjama's?"

Stephen wasn't going to let her get away with that and grinned wickedly. "What are those?" Making Abby blush before she sped away to add to his wardrobe. He had to admit, shopping with Abby was way more fun than he'd anticipated.

Catching one of the attendants giving him the evils, he ducked into a changing cubicle and started to try on the gear.

On the dot of seven they were walking out of the store with security locking the doors behind them. Abby carried an assortment of bags, while Stephen lugged several huge bags and boxes. It had been pointless to use the mini, so they walked back to the flat and dumped everything in his room, the bed now overflowing and invisible under the number of packages.

"Why don't you sort that lot out while I see about something to eat?" Abby suggested, heading for the kitchen.

"I meant what I said last night...you don't have to wait on me."

"And I'm not. I'll save peeling the spuds for you, okay?"

"Deal."

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Candles had been lit around the flat, tea lights in strategic places and a full, antique candelabra on the table between them. Laughter rang out frequently as Abby related anecdotes about animals she'd worked with and the difficulties of getting gay lizards to mate successfully. Their eyes met frequently, the candle light striking highlights off Abby's pale hair which caught Stephens' eye, along with her laughing eyes and generous mouth.

The shopping trip had kitted him out with everything he needed, including a shaving kit and new footwear, as well as a jackets, jeans and everything he could want for the time being. Finding a home for his new wardrobe had proved a bit of an obstacle, but they'd sort that out tomorrow. For now they were enjoying a meal and each other's company, two people who, more often than not, ate alone before that day.

Abby was in her element. Stephen was a great listener as well as smart and quick, showing a sense of the ridiculous that matched her own. His quips about animal and human behaviour had her in fits, the meal lasting much longer than the usual heat'n'eat she endured because she had to have some food. They opened a bottle of wine and sat at the table while Stephen told her about some of the creatures he'd encountered during his time with the anomalies, Abby a rapt audience. She watched him as he talked, noting each expressive arch of his brows, each explanatory wave of his hands when describing a scene.

She knew she was rapidly falling in love with him but, for the life of her, she couldn't find a reason strong enough not to. They clicked on so many levels that she dismissed the fact they'd only known each other a little over twenty four hours. She'd had her share of crushes on Professors and lecturers enough to know what they felt like, and it was nothing like this. Realising that she hadn't heard a word in the past five minutes, she blinked and sat back.

Stephen was watching her with an amused tilt to his lips. "Penny for them?"

"Gawd no. A girl has to have some secrets. Your turn to stack the dishwasher."

They worked together to clear up the kitchen, then took what remained of the bottle back to the living room and flopped on the couch. Most of the candles had been doused with only those on the shelves nearest the couch left flickering.

"What time is the car coming for us?"

"About eight."

"Hmmm."

The silence stretched and Abby fidgeted with her glass, eventually putting it down and turning slightly to face him. "Why did you kiss me?"

"Sorry...I just thought...I won't do it again." Tilting his head back he downed the last of his glass, Abby fascinated to see his throat work as he swallowed.

"No...I mean...were you kissing me...or her?" She waited for his answer but couldn't look at him, suddenly fascinated with her fingers. A large hand covered her fidgeting hands and stilled them.

Looking up she found herself drowning, her heart thumping in her chest fit to burst.

"I need to tell you something, something that might change the way you think you feel about me." He let go of her hands and sat up, perching himself on the edge of the couch and resting his elbows on his knees. Abby was suddenly still, her breath caught in her throat, dreading what he was about to say.

"In my time line, and apparently in Nicks, because he never refuted it, I had an affair with his wife, Helen."

He let that little bombshell sink in. After a few seconds he continued.

"It was a long time ago. I was in Helen's lecture class and desperate to be noticed by her husband Professor Cutter. I wanted to be taken on as his assistant and foolishly, naively, thought she would be my ticket. It started off as a simple flirtation, a friendship based on our common interests, and my burning desire to be apart of Nick's world and the fascinating exploration of evolutionary zoology. I didn't realise they were going through a difficult time in their own marriage, and in mitigation, it was a large factor in what happened after. Working so closely with them, I knew that Helen was unhappy, and I didn't know enough about Nick not to blame him for her unhappiness. Being too young and stupid to stay out of it, I offered her a shoulder to cry on."

Stephen paused, not to allow Abby to speak, but to order his thoughts.

"The physical affair lasted less than a semester. My infatuation with her lasted for years, only I never realised it until a few days ago. Soon after our affair ended, Helen went missing somewhere in the Forest of Dean and was never seen again for either years. In sharing our grief, Nick and I grew close, we became best friends. Helen going missing, I'm ashamed to say, was the best thing for me, and with foresight, probably Nick as well. He took me on as his laboratory technician and we traveled the world discovering palaeontological puzzles and advancing the science of evolutionary zoology. We were a department of two and loving the freedom that brought with it. Helen was always there, in the photos on the desk and the notes she'd left behind, but as far as we knew, she was dead and buried...somewhere."

He paused again, drawing in a deep breath. Abby sat beside him, watching, listening but not venturing a word. Stephen dropped his head lower, his shoulders hunched.

"I never told Nick about Helen, about our affair. It was all so long ago, and I...we thought she was dead. What point was there in raking up, what I considered, a youthful indiscretion and deliberately hurting my best friend. I should have realised, then and there, a simple truth- that your sins will always come back to haunt you."

Stephen covered his face with his hands now, as if to blot out the images of his friends face when the truth was revealed.

"Helen came back. It transpired that she had never died, only been lost among the anomalies, dodging in and out of time lines in the fourth dimension, leaving Nick unable to move on and me harboring a secret I thought buried and forgotten. On that last afternoon before he and I fell through that anomaly, she blurted out the fact of our affair, in front of Nick and everyone, including Abby. She wanted me to go with her to explore the anomaly phenomenon, an offer I refused, but the damage was done. She went back through the anomaly leaving chaos and destruction behind her. As if that wasn't bad enough, Nick started to ask about a woman called Claudia Brown. We'd never set eyes on her or knew who she was, then the anomaly started to expand, sucking Nick in and I dived after him. Three days later, we're here."

Sitting up, he scrubbed at his face, smoothing his hair back on his head before letting his hands drop.

"Now we're here and our other selves are gone. There is a Claudia Brown, and Helen isn't missing or dead but still very much married to Nick. I have no way of knowing if the other me had the affair with Helen, or managed to keep his dick in his pants this time. Either way you look at it, in my own time I'm a two timing, wife stealing bastard who tried to hide the truth and got royally screwed. I don't know how Nick can even look at me, let alone talk to me, and as for you...well, now you know the worst."

Having expunged everything that had been eating away at him, Stephen flopped back on the couch, his head turned away from Abby, fearing that if he faced her he'd see condemnation and disgust.

For her part, Abby was mostly stunned that Stephen had found the courage to lay himself bare to the bone. She didn't know this Helen, and only recently met Nick, so she was hardly in a position to judge either. She only had what Stephen had just imparted to base any sort of judgment on. That the whole situation tortured him was obvious. That he was remorseful, if not entirely about the affair, at least about deceiving his friend, was also self evident. That the cost of hiding the secret for so long had screwed him up inside only made her want to wipe away the past and give him a chance to start again, with her. For a few moments she considered what might happen to her, if the chance to return to his own time eventuated, and he decided to return to the other Abby. But that was in the future. Right here, right now, she was faced with a man who had laid his heart on the floor and expected her to trample all over it with hobnail boots.

Instead she rose up on her knees and used one finger to turn him to face her, capturing him with both hands to keep his attention. Unable to face her he shut his eyes.

"You're expecting me to condemn you, aren't you?" She waited for the slightest of nods.

"I won't do that Stephen. I'm not condoning what you did...your 'youthful indiscretion' as you call it. But I'm not going to judge you by that either. Whether or not your counterpart in this world made the same mistakes is not for me to worry about. You assume I have feeling for you...and you're right, I do...strong ones that could very well forgive you nearly anything. And you've admitted you have feeling for the Abby you left behind, but you think...you think you're not worthy because of Helen Cutter. Answer me this, if Helen had not died but returned, would you have continued your affair with her?" She waited for Stephen's reply, a slow shake from side to side. "And if Helen hadn't gone missing, would you have been up front with Nick if the chance presented itself, knowing what you know now about your friend?"

The tiniest of nods gave her his answer. Still holding him captured in her hands, she lowered her head and kissed him, a slow melding of lips that was more healing balm than passion. When she pulled back he'd opened his eyes and was watching her, his lips parted and moist from the kiss.

"I so wanted to tell her I was sorry, I never meant for it to get so out of control...what happened between Helen and myself, so long ago, meant nothing, and hadn't for a very long time."

She kissed him again with more confidence. When she pulled back this time she smiled. "I think that your Abby, if she's anything like me, will forgive you if you give her the chance."

For a long moment they just looked at each other, Abby's eyes warm and generous, Stephen's no longer shadowed by memories and regrets. The shrill ringing of a phone made them both jerk and jump apart. The second ring catapulted Abby off the couch to grab the wall phone and put it to her ear.

"Abby Maitland...Sir James!...Yes, he's here...no, we haven't heard from Professor Cutter or Miss Brown...no...he's done what?"

Stephen had padded over and had his ear pressed to the other side of the ear piece to Abby, one of his hands braced against the wall as he leant down, the other sitting comfortably about her waist, a heavy warm weight that she found very distracting.

"No sir...yes, we can be ready in half an hour...I do have my own car...oh, okay...bye." The line had gone dead before she'd said her goodbyes so she hung it back up on the wall and turned to face Stephen.

"Did you get all that?"

"Only the latter half, what's happened?"

"It's Connor...he's gone off half cocked to investigate a suspected anomaly in Swinley Forest – it's near Bracknell in Birkshire."

"Only it wasn't a suspected anomaly, was it?" Stephen prompted, both his hand now resting on her hips.

"No...and he didn't go alone. Oh the stupid idiot...he's there with his two student friends. He must have told them!"

"So much for signing the official secrets act. I thought it might have turned out different this time. Just as well we remembered to get that back pack and overnight bag for me."

He watched Abby worry her thumb, a crease forming between her eyes. Determined to distract her from her worry over Connor's stupid behaviour, he suddenly hugged her close and lifted her up to swing around. Abby clutched at his neck and squealed in his ear until he put her back on the floor, laughing at his antics.

"What'cha do that for?" Abby asked, breathless and grinning.

"Because you were frowning ferociously and if I didn't do something, I was liable to kiss you again."

"I wouldn't have objected," Abby replied somewhat indignantly, swatting him on the shoulder.

"Well in that case..." before she could voice a protest, he was doing just that, his broad hands spread over her back, holding her securely against him while her arms locked about his neck, exchanging kiss for kiss until they broke apart breathless and grinning like loons.

"We only have...half an hour...before Douglas comes...to get us!" Abby panted, dodging his questing mouth and putting her hand over it to stop him in mid kiss. "Stephen...we have to pack!"

Reluctantly he let her go. Cocking an impudent eyebrow and a crooked smile, he leant in for a quick peck on her cheek before swinging away and heading for the spare room. Abby stood where he'd left her for half a minute before snapping out of her trance and racing up the stairs to the loft, to start on her own packing.

In the end they beat Douglas by two minutes, spending that small amount of spare time necking like teenagers, with Abby seated on the kitchen bench between Stephens legs, his hands braced either side of her while she played unashamedly with his hair and nape of his neck. Loud knocking at the front door made them break apart reluctantly.

"Douglas is here..."

"Yeah...guess we have to break up this party..."

"Stephen!" She submitted to one final kiss then pushed him away and jumped down, pulling the sliding door wide before running down the stairs. She yanked open the front door just as Douglas raised his knuckle to knock again. "Sorry...we're just coming."

What Douglas thought of their revealingly disheveled state and silly grins, was anyone's guess, but like any well trained government employee, he kept his comments to himself and simply took their bags.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The black car glided through the forest and stopped behind a collection of haphazardly parked vehicles.

Stephen and Abby got out and followed the young soldier waiting for their arrival to escort them. They were approaching a large black van with small, meshed windows and a guard on the back door. In the distance, large mobile spotlights illuminated a large tent and figures of men, some in all encompassing white overalls, other in special forces black uniforms, the same as the guard as they scurried about their business.

"Those men are carrying guns," Abby hissed at Stephen, who was all too familiar with the scene up ahead.

"That's because some of the creatures try to eat people," he hissed back, smiling as she continued to gape at the activity among the spotlights. A figure stepped out of the shadow of the van and Stephen recognised him instantly.

"Captain Ryan!"

"Stephen...glad to have you back."

"Ah...well, it's not quite that simple..." Stephen started to explain, but Ryan only slapped him on the shoulder and grinned.

"I have been brief on the unusual nature of the situation. Who's this?"

"Abby...Abby Maitland, reptile specialist and a member of the team." Abby leant forward with Stephen's introduction and shook hands with Ryan. She was still unsettled by the men running around with guns and eyed the guard with some misgivings.

"Where's Connor?" Stephen asked.

Ryan indicated for the guard to step aside after unlocking the back door of the van. "The young fool was snooping around. No idea how he managed to get so far inside our perimeter. One of the men was rather over zealous and clouted him on the head. Bit of a bump but he'll survive. His friends are in the local lock up for disorderly behaviour. They got drunk and started shouting about dinosaurs and government cover ups when they discovered him missing." Ryan swung the door wide and Stephen helped Abby into the back of the van.

Connor was slowly getting himself upright from laying down on the hard bench running the length of the van. Abby went up to him and sat beside him. Stephen folded his arm over his chest while Ryan stood leaning up against the metal wall.

"They hit me," Connor complained, his hand coming up to touch the back of his head gingerly. "They bloody hit me...fascists!"

"You're lucky we didn't shoot you," Ryan retorted.

"What were you thinking Connor?"Abby asked, resting a sympathetic hand on the young man's shoulder. Connor looked miserable, darting glances up at Stephen who continued to loom over him.

"I wanted to see...there was this newspaper article...and all these reports on the net. I just wanted to see.."

"Why didn't you call me...or Stephen.. or the Professor?" Abby asked but Connor just stared down at his hands and remained silent.

Stephen and Ryan exchanged a glance.

"So what were you dealing with this time?"

"A veggie, thank goodness. Big, but relatively easy to herd back through the anomaly with dogs," Ryan pulled out a piece of paper from a pocket and handed it to Stephen. "Apparently this was what gave him the idea."

Stephen stared at the blurry photo then back at Connor. "Do you have a better picture of the creature?"

"Sure...hang on." Ryan went to the doorway and spoke to the guard. A few minutes later the man returned and handed something to him. He in turn passed the photo to Stephen.

"Don't know it's name, but it didn't try and take a bite out of us, so that's all only Intel we needed."

Stephen stared at the image in the dim light shed by the light in the van. He handed it to Abby who passed it in front of Connor. The young man stared at the photo before glancing up at Stephen.

"If they'll give me back my laptop I can identify this, now I have a decent picture of it."

Ryan again spoke to the man outside and shortly Connor's canvas bag appeared. While he fired up his laptop, Stephen once more spoke with Ryan.

"Have you contacted Cutter about this?"

"No. Apparently he's not picking up his phone or checking the mobile. Given the situation with his wife, we thought it best to get your take on the situation first. It's been a week long operation, one way and another. We're lucky that this stretch of the park runs close to the MOD restricted area. We cordoned it off from public access with help from the military. Fortunately, this close to Sandhurst, the locals are used to the army messing with their leisure activities."

"If this article is anything to go by...not lucky enough if they escaped your cordon."

"Did you look at the size of this creature? Veggy or not, they took some rounding up and herding through. The last one was found tonight and went through a couple of hours ago, just when this idiot decided to show up."

"Well, this idiot is a part of the team. What about his mates?"

"By the time they're released, things will be pretty much back to normal. The portal closed after the last beast went through, so that's over with for now. We're already packing up and will be gone by morning, they won't be able to find a thing."

Abby and Connor had their heads bent over the laptop, Abby holding the photo while Connor tapped furiously at the keyboard. Stephen sat down on the other side of them both and peered at the screen. Images were scrolling past faster than he could make them out, then one in particular appeared, the laptop giving out a self satisfied bleep at having found what Connor was looking for.

"It's from the early Mesozoic Era, in the Lower Triassic period. A herbivore ."

"Mesozoic...that's a first for me...do you have a name?" Stephen asked, exchanging a smile with Abby over Connor's head.

"One of the survivors of the Permian extinction...a dicynodont called Kannemeyeria. Common to South America, South Africa and possibly Australia going by the fossil remains." Connor reeled of the facts with long practiced ease. Abby was still trying to work out how to pronounce it's name.

"And this is what you guys had here...really?" Abby asked, looking skeptical.

"Several. You can watch the footage if you have difficulty believing it," Ryan suggested.

"Looks a bit like a low slung hippo..." Stephen observed, looking up at Ryan for confirmation.

"Bullish too...but apparently not aggressive, thanks goodness. They went fairly willingly once we persuaded them."

Stephen got to his feet. "As you can see, despite his inability in keeping his mouth shut, Connor has the smarts we need. I'm surprised he's not already on the other Cutter's team," he glanced down at Connor. "Didn't you approach the Professor at some time? You certainly knew him when you met in London."

Connor shut his lap top and fiddled about getting it into his bag. "I sent him my thesis, but I never heard back from him. I suppose he didn't think my theories were worth following up."

Abby gave the young man a sympathetic look, then glanced up at Stephen. "What's going to happen now?"

"Ryan?" Stephen looked at the special forces Captain for his input.

Ryan shrugged. "If he can be found somewhere else to live, away from his cronies, he might just survive until the next anomaly appears. Sir James has given the decision over to you and Professor Cutter. His mates will stay in the lock up until tomorrow before being arraigned in front of the circuit judge. I don't know what Cutter would say, but if he's as knowledgeable as you say, and I think we've just had confirmation of that, it's up to you."

Stephen rubbed his chin and stared at his feet for a moment, before turning to look over at Abby.

"Do you think we can squeeze him in at your place?"

Connor interrupted, "please say yes, please, please. I was only staying at Tom's because I was chucked out of my own flat and didn't have anywhere else. I won't be any trouble..." He looked pleadingly from Abby to Stephen and back again.

Abby had folded her arms over her chest and looked sternly at them both. "Stephen already has my spare room, but I suppose you could sleep on the couch...until something else can be arranged." She threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes. "God...now I'll be tripping over two of you!"

zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz

Once more, Connor found himself sitting in the front of the comfortable black car on his way back to Abby's place. He was considerably subdued and didn't bug the driver half as much as he'd done on the trip back from London. Abby and Stephen sat on opposite sides of the back seat doing their best to pretend that they were still disinterested strangers forced into a difficult situation. Admittedly the only people they were fooling were themselves, as Douglas had seen them when he'd picked them up and Connor had seen them on the drive back and made up his own mind.

They settled for playing silly fingers games, the only point of contact during the whole long hours before arriving back at the flat with their new roommate, after midnight. Of the three, Stephen was the most wide awake after his long sleep earlier, but both Connor and Abby were yawning their heads off as they trudged into the converted warehouse. Stephen dumped his and Abby's unnecessary baggage on the floor before heading into the kitchen. Abby came in behind him and rested her head against his back, her eyes drooping shut.

"I'm so tired. Considering how much sitting down I've been doing, you wouldn't think I'd be this exhausted."

"Well you hardly expected to drive to Birkshire and back in a night."

"But I didn't even drive...poor Douglas did."

"Do you want to pass on the cuppa and just go to bed?"

"Now that's an offer I'm not going to refuse. Although I have to warn you, I'm really too tired to do much right now...maybe in the morning." She didn't need to have her eyes open to see the look of shock pass over Stephen's face. She had never been this brazen before, but she felt the pressure of time and wanted to make the most of every second she had with him.

"Abby you don't...I mean...when I suggested Connor stay here...I never...I wouldn't..."

"I know. But can't a girl ask?" He had turned around and now held her loosely, his hands resting on her hips. Abby leant against his chest and relaxed against him, her head barely brushing his chin. "I want this Stephen...I'm asking you if you want it too?"

"Yes."

"Then whats the bother? Did you clear off the spare bed?"

"Yes."

"Then Connor can have that and you can share with me. Simple."

Spreading her hands flat against his chest, she levered herself out of his arms and turned on her heel. Casting a last smiling glance over her shoulder, she left the kitchen and dragged herself up the stairs to change out of her clothes. Connor was sitting on the couch, his head thrown back and soft snores issuing from his open mouth. Stephen checked that his bed was indeed clear of his clothes and went to wake the younger man up. He shook him none to gently.

"Wake up Connor and go to bed. It's nearly one. You're taking over the spare room. Just don't piss on my new clothes alright?"

"Spare room?" Connor tried to focus his eyes on Stephen, screwing up his face as he tried to work out what Stephen meant. "But that's your room."

"Not any more. Hurry up and use the bathroom, I want to clean my teeth."

"But..." Stephen didn't allow him time to argue, just frog marched the bleary student towards the facilities and shut the door behind him. Going into the spare room that now belonged to Connor, he collected together a few items and kicked the rest into a corner. He could hear Abby moving about upstairs and wondered briefly if it constituted cheating sleeping with her. If and when he ever made it back to his own time, he'd have to explain to the Abby there what had gone one here, and hope she understood.

As Abby herself said, if she was anything like her doppleganger, she'd understand.

Connor reeled out of the bathroom just as Abby came downstairs, swathed in a bright red bathrobe, only a pair of yellow socks peeking out the bottom. With her shock of pale, white hair she resembled a deliciously shaped stick of Blackpool rock. Stephen smiled at her and turned to take their baggage up to her loft, Connor finally putting two and two together and blushing.

"Er...goodnight Abby...and... thanks."

Pausing before going into the bathroom, Abby flashed him a cheeky grin and blew him a kiss. "Thank you, Connor...sleep well." Then shut the door behind her. Stephen stomped down the stairs again and Connor decided it was all too much and shut the door to the spare room. When Abby appeared again he left her to use the bathroom, while she went through her usual nighttime routine, checking her reptiles and making sure the doors were locked before switching off the lights.

She had just flicked the last switch when Stephen appeared at her side and swept her up into his arms.

"Stephen, put me down," she hissed, throwing her arms about his neck and kicking her legs.

"If you keep that up I'll drop you, now hold on."

He set off up the stairs to the loft and Abby hid her face against his neck. At the top of the stairs he carried her over to her bed and dropped her so that she bounced and squealed in mock fright. Still wearing her thick, fleece robe, she propped herself up on her side and watched him rummage through his bag for a clean pair of underwear. He had his shirt off and thumbs hooked into the waistband of his jeans before noticing that Abby was watching him with ill-disguised delight.

"Unless you want to be mooned, I suggest you turn away," he told her, waiting until she did as he asked before shucking his jeans and changing into a fresh pair of hipsters and donning another of Abby's well worn t-shirts. Abby was under the covers having shed her thick bathrobe and lay on her side once more waiting for him to switch off the overhead light and climb under the covers.

A single light remained to shed a soft glow on them.

They lay there, both propped up on their hands, facing each other, soft smiles and similar expressions of hope and some trepidation of their faces.

"Have I told you today that you mean a great deal to me?"

"You might have mentioned it," Abby teased, captivated by the play of light and shadow on his features.

"Come here," Stephen settled himself on the pillows and held out his arms. Abby lay down with her head on his shoulder, snuggled happily against his long body and relishing his warmth and solidity.

He wrapped her securely against his side, his cheek against the top of her head, breathing in the sweet scent of her.

"Am I mad, Stephen?"

"No. I think you know what you want and don't hesitate to make it happen." He kissed the top of her head. "I admire that. Always have."

"Oh good, because I have to say I don't usually invite complete strangers into my bed after such a short...acquaintance."

"I'm not a stranger Abby...I've known you forever."

"Well, next time speak to me a bit sooner. It'll save us wasting so much time."

He chuckled, Abby feeling the sound vibrate through his chest over and above the thump of his steady heartbeat.

"Your Abby is going to be a very lucky girl, one day, when you return to her."

He heard the poignant note in her voice and tightened his hold on her. "No, you're wrong. I'm the luckiest man to have found a woman with a generous heart and a brave soul, the same in whatever time line she exists in. I'm the lucky one."

"I beg to differ...but I'm too tired to argue. I suppose we'll still have to go and see Sir James in London tomorrow...er, this morning."

"I didn't check my phone to see if there was another message, so I suppose so. He'll want to know what we're doing about Connor anyway."

"Hmmmmm. Has anyone told you, you make the most comfortable pillow." She yawned and settled completely against him. Stephen smiled and ran his hand up and down her arm.

"I do my best."

Silence stretched between them and he thought she was asleep, but a quiet voice drifted up to him and made him achingly aware of the warm and softly curved woman at his side.

"I'll hold you to that Stephen Hart...just you wait and see..."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...happy sigh


	8. Neon Light

7/9/07

Title: Neon Light

Author: Squeezynz

The morning after the night before or "where do we go from here?"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Claudia awoke to the sun streaming into the spare room, the covers bunched up around her middle and a muscular arm about her waist. Blinking, she snuggled back into the pillow and tried to ignore the morning roar of traffic outside the ground floor bedroom. Her peace only lasted a few seconds before her sense of time and place made her sit up hurriedly and stare down at the man sprawled in the bed beside her.

"Nick...wake up!" Her vigorous shake of his shoulder only made him grunt and squeeze his arm more tightly around her, somewhat like an amorous anaconda. "Nick...more goodness sake, we have to get up."

"Don't want to...'ice and warm."

She couldn't help smiling at his sleepy reply, his tousled head firmly planted among the pillow and obviously unwilling to make an effort.

"Hey...slug...time to get up and face the day." She joggled him again and paid for her impatience when Nick moved surprisingly fast and pinned her to the bed. Looming over her he grinned at her outraged face before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"I'm awake...bossy female. What's the rush now...it's what? Saturday morning? I'd say that's a good enough reason not to worry about the time."

"Nick...Lester will be wanting me to phone him. I sent him the report, such as it was, but he won't be happy."

"Fine by me...I wasn't happy jumping through his hoops before, and I'm not about to start now." Again he kissed her, this time her cheek, his hands still holding her wrists prisoner against the pillows.

"But what about the anomalies, the others, your wife!"

"I didn't notice much worry last night," he was nuzzling her neck and she arched to give him more skin to play with. "And I'm sure the world hasn't ended in the last eight hours or so."

"Nick Cutter...this is a blatant disregard for my position! I have to answer to Sir James...he could sack me!"

"Let him...then you can marry me and we'll do our own research on the anomalies and other – interesting – phenomenon." He interspersed each word with a nibbling kiss that had her squirming to get free so that she could use her hands to touch him.

"Nick..." her soft whine as he progressed downward made him laugh.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

An hour later they sat at the breakfast table sipping coffee and making inroads into the cupboards. Claudia had a bowl of cereal and fruit while Nick munched on a small mountain of crumpets dripping with butter and golden syrup. He'd put the phone back on the hook as he passed, and Claudia was even now checking their cell phones for messages. He glanced up at her and surprised a frown creasing her pretty face.

"What is it? Bad news?"

"It seems there was an incident at the Swinley Forest site. They managed to herd the last of the Kannemeyeria back through the anomaly before it closed."

"What period were they from?"

"Lower Triassic, a herbivore apparently. You young friend Connor identified it."

"He did? What was he doing there?"

"That's what Lester would like to know...he's expecting us back in London for a meeting at lunch time. He's also expecting a full explanation for why he couldn't contact me last night."

"Tell him to get stuffed. You don't have to explain anything. He doesn't own you."

"Well..." Claudia started to say, but Nick wasn't having any of it.

"No. It's none of his damn business what you do after hours, and I'll tell him so."

"You'll do no such thing Nick Cutter. I'll handle Sir James, without any interference from you."

Nick stared at her across the table. Then a slow grin tilted his lips before he wiped his mouth and got up from the table. "Well...if we're to be in London by midday, we'd better get a move on..." he reached for her hand and pulled her up from the table. "If we share a shower it'll take half the time."

Claudia allowed him to tug her out of the kitchen and along the hallway to the downstairs bathroom. The thought of Nick Cutter under the shower was enough to make her mouth go dry and her heart to do flip-flops.

"If you have your wicked way, this'll be anything but a short shower," she retorted, laughing as he whisked her into the bathroom and shut the door.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Claudia drove, Nick content to catch up with Stephen and find out what he'd missed the night before. In a twist of the time line, it was Claudia who drove the big three liter utility, similar in most respects to the one he'd used, courtesy of the CMU back in his time. One difference was the lack of instrument boxes and other items usually strapped to the roof rack and piled up in the tray at the back. It was still silver, but without the department logo on the doors and Claudia obviously enjoyed driving the big work horse.

He was listening to Stephen relate the adventures of the night before and chuckling at some of the things he was saying. It seemed Connor was running true to form, despite the change in time lines.

"How's his head this morning?" Nick asked, getting an quizzical glance from Claudia.

"Sore, but he'll live," Stephen replied. Nick could hear Abby say something in the background then Connor voice from further away. "We're about an hour away from London."

"We're about an hour behind you. Mind you, if Claudia keeps speeding the way she is, we might just make it before you." He ducked the hand that lashed out to whop him one for his cheekiness. "We'll call when we reach the outer burbs. Talk to you later."

He shut the phone and tossed it into the tray between the seats. He didn't say anything, wanting to see how long Claudia would wait before asking. He didn't have to wait long.

"Well?"

He feigned an interest in the cars they were passing. "What?"

"What did Stephen have to say about Connor? What happened to his head?"

"Nothing wrong with Stephen's head...leastwise, nothing terminal."

"Not Stephen's, Connor's?"

"Ah...he snuck into Swinley Forest and one of your special ops got a little heavy handed with the butt of his gun."

"Oh dear...poor Connor."

"The idiot...he has a penchant for doing this type of thing, so don't waste your sympathy."

"You're a hard man, Nick Cutter...he is very young, according to the file I read on him."

"That's right, you haven't met him yet...or Stephen for that matter..."

"Of course I've met Stephen..." she started to say only to have Nick interrupt.

"Not this Stephen...he not of this time...or mine...remember?"

"I'll have to remember that...and Abby? What's she like?"

"If she's anything like the Abby I knew, she's a firecracker in a leather jacket. Good mind and a eye on Stephen."

"And Stephen?"

"Oh I think the feeling is mutual between them. She offered for him to stay at her place, don't forget. Seems that some things are immutable to time and space...like us, for example."

"I'm still waiting for my head to stop spinning. If he works as fast as you do, the poor girl doesn't stand a chance."

Nick laughed, Claudia grinning back at him.

They pulled up outside the gleaming glass and steel edifice that was the Home Office and made their way to Lester's office. The other three were already there, Connor standing by the glass wall window and staring out, the other two talking quietly together, Abby sitting on the edge of the table and Stephen leaning in close to her. Nick exchanged a knowing look with Claudia and she was hard pressed not to smack him on the arm for being right.

"So the gangs all here," Nick boomed, making Connor jump and both Stephen and Abby jerk away from each other. "Oh don't mind us," Nick grinned, noting the guilty look pass between them, "I was just saying to Claudia, how some things remain unchanged whatever Universe you inhabit. Some people are incapable of keeping secrets and others...well..." He turned to look at Claudia, both of them focused on the other so that the world narrowed down to just them for a few seconds.

"So this is Claudia Brown?" Stephen broke the spell by coming forward, his eyes dancing to see is friend so besotted. The young woman seemed equally invested and he almost laughed when his interruption left them blinking as if just coming out of a deep sleep. He held out his hand and Claudia shook it, smiling at him with a dreamy expression. Oh boy, did she have it bad.

Claudia looked up at Stephen and smiled. "Well you look exactly like your counterpart, as does Nick. How are you coping?"

"I've had a lot of help," Stephen glanced at Abby who went very pink in the cheeks and suddenly found her boots fascinating to look at. "But so far, no major problems." He turned to face Cutter, who looked back at him steadily. "Have you seen Helen?"

"Yes. Last night. She's flown back to South America already." Nick maintained his steady gaze, and waited for Stephen to ask the question he knew the younger man needed to know the answer too.

"Did she mention..." Stephen swallowed, his gaze dropping.

"Apart from ranting at me about my thoughtless behaviour in disappearing six months ago and not telling her...not a lot. And even if she had...it's past and gone." Nick rested his hand on Stephen's shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Past and gone. She can't do anymore than she's already done. I'm free, don't you see. After eight years...I'm free." He waited for Stephen to look up at him, his smile bringing an answering one to the younger mans' face. "I don't know whether we'll get back to our own time, and I'm not sure I care...but whatever time it is, whatever past sins were committed, we're here now and still together." He released Stephen's shoulder and held out his hand. Stephen visibly relaxed, his tense expression changing to one of relief and cautious optimism.

"Friends?" Stephen asked, taking Nicks hand in his own strong grip.

"Best friends." Nick replied softly, grinning back, his blue eyes twinkling.

Abby was secretly wiping away suspicious moisture from the corner of her eyes when Stephen returned to where she sat. She knew, more than probably anyone else in the room, how much that affecting scene had meant to Stephen, her smile wobbly when he tilted her face up. His eyes asked a question, but she only shook her head, all of them turning to the doorway to face Sir James Lester, the man clearing his throat loudly before dropping a collection of folders onto the table top.

"Glad you could all make it. Miss Brown, I'll want to speak to you after this meeting concerning your inability to remain in contact. Mister Temple, I'm seriously considering having you arrested..."

The babble of voices that broke out at this outrageous suggestion brought a thin smile to the face of the company man. It was going to be an interesting meeting, all things considered.

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**Author's Note:** For a brief time we must leave our intrepid Scooby Gang and return to the end of chapter two- Harsh Light. A brief recap - Abby and Connor are left to carry on with their lives after Cutter and Stephen are sucked through an anomaly. In this time line Claudia Brown wasn't known, but otherwise things looked pretty much the same as when she did. Now read one.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Rex chittered happily between plucking grapes off their stalks. He was sitting in the center of the dining table, his favourite perch, while Abby sat with her elbows on the table, her fingers wrapped around a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Taking a sip, she watched the brilliantly coloured reptile and smiled. It had taken some fancy finagling with Lester to allow her to keep the tiny dinosaur, the usual policy of returning all creatures back to their periods the argument most commonly used against her. But in the end Sir James just threw his hands up and stomped off, leaving Abby triumphant. Rex was safe with her for the time being. Connor had become almost comical in his desire not to repeat the mistake of leaving a window open again, the flat now sporting mesh screens on most of the bigger windows to allow the air to circulate, but keep the agile Coelurosaurarus inside.

Rex turned his head and eyed his human keeper with an almost quizzical expression. Abby sighed and took another drink from her mug.

"It's been three months Rex. Three months and not a word about them. Could they survive in your world?"

Rex chirruped and plucked another grape from its stalk. Abby smiled at his antics, but the sadness remained in her eyes. Three months of returning to a life she didn't want or recognize anymore.

For her that meant back to Wellington Zoo and being bounced from one department to another. Her knowledge and skills were in demand, but not enough to grant her her own niche. She never knew, from one day to the next, whether she'd be called upon merely to muck out a cage or be asked to consult on an animal's welfare or behaviour. The Zoo hierarchy were loathe to let her go as she could integrate with nearly every department, but the truth was, they didn't know what to do with her for the best.

So she turned up every day, drew a wage, and tried not to think about anomalies, dinosaurs or tall dark handsome men. In actuality she didn't have to think much about Stephen at all, he was a regular of her dreams, enough to keep him in the forefront without trying very hard.

Once a week she phoned Sir James Lester's office, and once a week she got his PA who politely, but firmly, passed on the message that nothing had changed. And every time she felt like hurling the phone across the room in frustration. Connor had done his best to track what was happening on the anomaly front, using a search engine finely tuned to specific reports about creature sightings around the world, but more specifically within the British Isles. They'd put up a map on the wall and marked each suspicious sighting, following it up, when time allowed, with a road trip to the area. After three months, there were a lot of pins stuck in the map, but few that they'd managed to visit because of her job, or his course commitments.

When Abby had tackled Lester's PA about the anomalies, the woman had let slip that a new government department was now handling all of that. When pressed, the PA only gave its contraction – ARC – which Abby correctly deduced meant Anomaly Research Center. Connor was onto it's trail like a bloodhound after a felon, but even his superior computer skills couldn't track down where the ARC was or who was involved in it.

Frustrated on all fronts, she survived each day as best she could and tried not to think too much about the future, one that appeared a little less bright each morning.

She was about to walk out the door to work when the phone rang. She considered ignoring it, but something made her slide back her apartment door and grab the phone off its wall mounting.

"Abby speaking."

"Miss Maitland...James Lester here."

"Oh...oh Sir James...you have news?" Her knuckles were turning white where they gripped the receiver, her pulse thrumming in her ears.

"I'd like you to get down to the Municipal Mercy Hospital as soon as possible."

"Hospital?" Abby leant against the wall, suddenly light headed. "Are they back?"

"I can't give you all the details, but it would appear that two men, answering the description of our missing palaeontologists, may have been admitted sometime during the night. I'm stuck in meetings all this morning, but will be driving up myself, if they are who we think they are. I need you to confirm that for me. Can you do that?"

"In a heartbeat!" Abby exclaimed, her eyes closing momentarily as she sent up a prayer that it was the missing pair.

"Quite. Call me when you have confirmation. My PA will put you through."

"Thank you..." but she was talking to the dial tone. Hanging up the phone she felt a huge upwelling of emotion, startling Rex when she let out a whoop of joy and started to jump about the apartment. Scooping the lizard up, she swung him around until he struggled to get free. Calming down a little, she shot up the stairs to change out of her usual work clothes and into something more suitable. It was time to try the girl thing again. Rex watched her hectic antics with half an eye, chirping at her as she clattered down the stairs again and snatched up her keys.

"Bye Rex," she blew him a kiss before racing out of the flat and running to her car. Sitting behind the wheel, she drew in a breath to calm herself. She picked up her cell phone with the intention of calling Connor, but remembered he had an exam that morning. Plus, if she was honest, she wanted to go on her own. Numerous emotions were doing convoluted somersaults in her chest, hope and joy at their return, mixed with worry and fear because they were in a hospital. Jumbled with all that was the little voice cautioning her, that it might not be them at all. Twisting the key in the ignition she forced herself to pull out slowly and take her time. It would do no-one any good if she had an accident now, just because she was impatient.

Traffic seemed abnormally heavy, but she took her time and threaded through the multitude of traffic lights and intersections until she arrived at the public carpark for the hospital. Not sure where they might be, she headed for the main information desk. It seemed that Sir James had called ahead, as a young police officer was waiting for her. After checking her ID, he led her towards the bank of lifts.

"The Home Office said they were sending someone over." The policeman said conversationally. Abby only managed to nod, too anxious to notice the young mans appreciative look.

"We don't get many unusual cases like this one...know the gentlemen, do you?"

"That's why I'm here...to identify them." Abby replied, biting her lip as the lift continued to climb. At last the doors dinged open and she exited the lift. The policeman approached the nurses station and spoke to the head nurse before waving Abby forward. The nurse pinned a large visitors ID to Abby's top and waved them along. The corridor seemed to go on forever, her levels of stress rising exponentially, Abby darting looks into the rooms they passed, but seeing little beyond white beds and anonymous patients. At last the young officer started to slow, half turning to hand Abby forward to approach an open doorway. Sucking in a steadying breath, she consciously relaxed her clenched fists and walked into the room.

Another police officer, sitting on a hard chair in the corner, got up when they entered. Her escort spoke first.

"The young lady from the Home Office, as expected."

They were in a sort of small lobby, with another door yet to go through. The second officer produced a key and unlocked the door, going in ahead of Abby and her escort. Inside, the room was lit by concealed lights, the curtains drawn across the windows. In the half light she could see two beds, several machines and drips hooked up to the two patients in them. A nurse was checking the readout on one machine and looked up when they entered.

"Young lady has come to identify your patients," her escort explained, the two policemen then removing themselves and leaving Abby with the nurse. The woman smiled at her before lifting the limp wrist of her patient and checking his pulse. Abby placed her bag on a convenient chair and came to stand at the end of the bed. In the dim light she could see that one man was dark, while the other was lighter haired, their features obscured by the shadows, unkempt hair, and several months growth of beard.

"What's wrong with them?" Abby asked, her voice barely above a whisper. The nurse glanced over at the two men.

"Exhaustion mostly, some dehydration, malnutrition. Several infected wounds, insect bites, sunburn," she wandered to the next bed, lifting the equally limp wrist of that occupant and taking his pulse. "They've been given a mild sedative, so you don't have to whisper. Given their state, a herd of Elephants could tramp through here and not bother them." She let go of the wrist and moved away from the bed.

Abby stepped forward to bring herself alongside the bed of the dark haired man, her eyes noting the long black lashes resting on gaunt cheeks, the nose peeling from repeated sunburn. She hesitated before reaching out a tentative hand to sweep back the ragged fringe, revealing the strongly marked brows beneath. For added confirmation she pushed the sheet down a little way to reveal his shoulders, the puckered scar on his left side all she needed to see.

"Do you recognize him?" The nurses voice seemed to come from a long way off, Abby blinking at the women for a moment before answering.

"Yes. Yes I do. It's Stephen. Stephen Hart...he went missing three months ago, along with Professor Nick Cutter."

The nurse gave her a strange look. "These men have been 'missing', as you say, for a lot longer than just three months. This level of physical abuse and poor condition takes more like six month to a year to reach this stage. Have they been prisoners somewhere?"

"You could say that," Abby whispered, sweeping back the persistent fringe that hung over Stephen's face. Dragging herself away, she passed the nurse to inspect the other patient, sure of what she'd find. Underneath the sun bleached hair, Nick Cutter slept on, unaware of her touch or scrutiny. Deep lines were scored in his face, his fair skin ravaged by the sun and ill health. "Will they be alright?"

"Nothing some TLC and several good meals won't put right." The nurse replied. "I was about to attack them with a pair of scissors and a razor," she paused, giving Abby a considering look. "Would you care to assist? We're a bit short staffed and it'll be a help."

Abby looked at the nurse and opened her mouth to reply. She noticed the twinkle in the woman's eye and realised that to refuse would mean having to leave the men and make herself a disinterested party, like the policemen outside. Abby considered herself anything but. She do anything and everything to ensure that she stayed.

"I'd like to help."

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

With an apron to protect her clothes, Abby perched on the side of Stephen's bed and gingerly wielded a pair of small scissors, snipping carefully at the long growth hiding his chin, upper lip and jawline. Nurse Kenner was doing the same to Nick Cutter, the click of the scissors barely heard over the monitoring equipment beeps. As she removed the dark beard his features started to emerge, the strong chin and sculptured lips, the shallow metal basin at her side soon filled with clippings.

Next came the soap and her rather inexpert attempt to shave him. She admitted to the nurse that shaving men was not an accomplishment she'd mastered, but persistence won out and she managed to do the job without cutting his throat or resorting to tissues to blot any blood. Now there was no mistaking who he was, only the over long fringe looking out of place. She handed that job over to Nurse Kenner who professed to having some talent in male hairdressing, having perfected the skill on her four younger brothers while growing up. Soon both men were looking more like their usual selves despite the hollowed cheeks and ravaged complexions.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Abby and Nurse Kenner, who asked to be called Jane, sat comfortably sipping welcome cups of tea in the nurses break room while the doctor on duty checked their patients.

"So they were just found in the middle of nowhere?" Abby was asking, reaching for another biscuit from the communal tin.

"Apparently. Sometime last night, around two, an ambulance arrived saying that they'd had a call from a member of the public about two bodies seen off a little traveled woodland track. The person didn't leave a name, just the location. The police were called, and the ambulance service. Two hours later they're here and in the state you saw them. After a cursory exam and a wash down, the police came back and said they'd been listed missing and had contacted the Home Office. I came on shift this morning and was told to keep an eye on them, do the usual and wait for someone to come identify them. The rest you know."

"Did they find out who made the call?"

"Probably a poacher or someone up to no good. They didn't leave a name, but were surprisingly exact about the location. Odd thing, I'd swear one of the officers said she had a posh accent."

"She?"

"So I heard. Can't have been a poacher then."

"No." Abby sat back in her chair and pondered who it might be. She's already called Sir James and told him that is was definitely Nick and Stephen. She'd also left a message for Connor on his cell phone.

"Any idea when you expect them to wake up?"

"When they're ready I suppose. They're on a drip to get the fluids back into them, and once the sedative has worn off, they'll wake on their own accord." Jane paused and considered Abby's averted face. "You're going to ask if there is someway you can stay in the room with them, aren't you?"

Abby shrugged. "I suppose their next of kin should be contacted, but to tell the truth, apart from Professor Cutter's wife, who is also missing, they've never spoken about family or anyone close."

"Then you'll have to do. I'll see about getting a more comfortable chair put in the room, one of those fold out, lazy boy things."

"Thanks. Sir James will be here this afternoon, so hopefully we'll learn more then. Maybe he knows if they have anyone that needs contacting?"

In the event, despite bringing a briefcase with the personal history of the two men, he never mentioned anything about next-of-kin's or any reason why Abby shouldn't remain where she was. Jane had left late in the afternoon and been replaced by another nurse, Rachel Bird, who was grateful for Abby's help with basic fetching and carrying. Only when Rachel suggested the men could do with a blanket bath did Abby balk, offering to do everything else but that. It smacked of something too personal and intimate, a step she wasn't ready for, despite her feelings. In the end, Abby was shooed out of the room when the Doctor arrived with a male nurse to check on the men's dressings, her retreat giving her a chance to rustle up a meal as she'd missed lunch and was now quite ravenous.

In the canteen she toyed with the salad and nibbled her sandwich before discarding both and settling for an industrial strength coffee from the dispenser. Making her way back to the room, she noted that the policemen were gone from their post outside the room, and the door was no longer locked.

Inside, the room looked much as she'd left it, both men still unconscious, the room still shadowed and quiet. As promised, a large comfortable armchair had been rolled into one corner and she sat there, sipping the coffee and listening to the steady beat of the heart monitors. Setting the cup on the window ledge, she put her head back for a second. What seemed like moments later the door opened and she sat up, Connor poking his head around the door and sending her a wide smile.

He could see for himself who were in the beds, and gave Abby a hug of happiness.

"How are they?" He whispered, which made her smile.

"You can talk normally Connor. They've been sleeping now for twenty four hours. Apart from some bumps and scrapes they seem to be all in one piece. They're not in the best of health, but the prognosis is good."

"No missing limbs or other important organs?"

"Connor!"

"Just asking. Did you find out where they appeared?"

"No. Sir James didn't say, and the nurse only said that they got a call early this morning about two bodies in a woodland. The caller was female, or so they think."

"A woman?" Connor raised his eyebrows, looking over at the two men and noting their ravaged appearance. "Could it have been Helen Cutter?"

"Who knows? But wherever it was, it had to be within the Ambulance call out area for this hospital to get them here so quickly."

Connor slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, pulling out his lap top from his canvas bag and flipping open the screen. "If we take into account the ambulance coverage area, plus...where did you say there were found?"

"No names, just somewhere not used much by the public. Maybe a private woodland, or uncleared farmland?" Abby shrugged and craned her neck to peer at the screen as Connor tapped furiously on the keyboard. With a few deft movements of the mouse he brought up a map showing the hospital at the center, from there he pulled back to show the surrounding countryside.

"Not a lot around here that would qualify as private woodland. There is the limit of the ambulance area, it overlaps with the next nearest hospital. If you draw a circle, you're looking at anything within this radius." They both squinted at the map, Connor jabbing his finger at a large area of green. "This looks like the most likely place. This tract of woodland. There's only a couple of access roads, and those aren't sealed, according to this map." He tapped a few more keys and brought up his creature sightings database. "Yes!"

"What? What is it?" Abby asked, leaning further out of the chair.

"Here...this small village at the northern edge. There was a sighting a week ago of a strange bird. It was reported as being a large bat, probably of the tropical variety because of its size, escaped from a private zoo." He looked up at Abby and looked smug. "But we all know it was more likely an escapee from some period, maybe a member of the Pterosaurs family tree. It's likely that somewhere in that woodland is an anomaly...which is where our dynamic duo came through."

"That all makes sense, but Connor, the nurse was quite emphatic that what Nick and Stephen have been through to end up like this, took much longer than just the three months they've been away."

The two friends looked at each other then at the two men still slumbering in the beds.

With a snap, Connor shut off his laptop and closed the lid. "Well we won't find out what happened until they wake up. I'm off. I've got another exam tomorrow and I have to study or I won't pass."

"Rubbish...you always pass." Abby retorted, giving the young student an encouraging smile. "You'll be running rings around all of us when you're finished."

"Rings or not, if I don't pass I'm toast. I've already missed huge chunks this year, I can't afford to mess these finals up." He leant down and pecked Abby on the cheek. "Chin up...they'll be fine. Takes more than a few scary ex-wives and man-eating reptiles to keep those two down for long."

"I'll be sure to let them know you care." Abby laughed, waving as Connor left the hospital room, shutting the door behind him. Outside it had started to rain, the droplets hitting the glass with a hiss, invisible in the darkness. She curled up once more in the chair and tried to relax. The steady beep of the machines lulled her into sleep and she never heard the night nurse come in and check on her patients.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

She awoke with a start when a rumble of thunder rolled over the hospital, rattling the window panes and making her heart thump erratically. She was thirsty so she padded out of the room after casting a cursory glance at the still sleeping men. Shuffling back into the room, she was instantly aware that something was different. Setting the plastic beaker of water on the window ledge, she approached the bed, checking on Cutter first. He looked only slightly improved, his skin looking maybe less papery and the bones underneath not so clearly defined as before. Careful not to make a sound, she approached Stephen's bed, leaning over him and reaching up to brush away the hair that persisted in falling onto his forehead. She was casting a shadow over his face from the overhead light and it was only as she pulled back that she realised that his eyes were half open.

"Stephen?"

She watched him struggle to raise his eyelids, obviously still heavy from sleep and the sedative. Each time those thick lashes swept down, she prayed he'd find the strength to open them again and look at her.

"Stephen...it's me...Abby..."

He moved his head and swallowed, his throat working to find some moisture to free his tongue. Abby seemed to understand and turned away to fetch her cup of water, moistening a flannel and wiping it over his lips, careful of the splits and cracks marring their surface. After several ministration of the flannel, he managed to part his dry lips and try to speak. At first the sound was so faint she couldn't hear him, even bringing her ear almost to rest on his mouth made it no clearer. She sensed his frustration when his forehead creased as he tried to speak again past his thick tongue.

"N...ick..." He finally managed to get out, Abby smiling broadly down at him and nodding her head to indicate that Cutter was in the bed next door.

"He's fine Stephen, you're both fine. You're in hospital. He's just one bed over." She saw him try to look in that direction, the effort of moving his head too much, his eyes fluttering closed again.

She thought he'd gone back to sleep and sat back on the side of the bed, a ridiculously happy smile stretching her cheeks. At that moment the night nurse appeared and she was able to relate what had just happened. Rachel checked his pulse and lifted his lids to check his reflexes. Stephen wasn't asleep and tried to object to her touch. One hand lifted off the covers and flailed, attempting to push Rachel away. Abby came forward and caught his hand, enclosing it in both of hers to keep it still.

"He's a fighter, this Stephen of yours." Rachel remarked, checking the readout and drip before going to Cutter's bed.

"He's not mine," Abby retorted, only then realising with one telling glance from the nurse, that she still held Stephen's hand clasped between her own. She would have dropped it like a hot potato, if not for the faint squeeze from its owner just before she went to release it. Keeping hold, she managed to snag the hard plastic chair left near the bed. Sitting herself down she lowered her hands, still clasping his, to the covers and left them there. Stephen had turned his head towards her, his eyelids fluttering as he fought to stay awake. She saw his throat work again and she asked the nurse if it would be alright if he took some water direct.

"Let's see how he does." With a practiced hand, Rachel held Stephen's head up and tilted the cup to his mouth, allowing only a small amount of liquid past his damaged lips. After getting nearly half the amount in the cup into him, she let his head lay back on the pillows.

"They'll be no keeping him in bed for very long, I can tell. The feisty ones are the worse." She patted Abby on the shoulder and went back to look at Nick. The water seemed to have revived Stephen and he was staring steadily at Abby, his tongue coming out to sweep over his lips to moisten them.

"How long?" He managed to whisper, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Since the early morning yesterday. About twenty four hours ago."

He shook his head, his brows coming together in a frown. "No...how long been gone?"

"Oh...about three months."

"What month?"

"End of October." She was watching his face and saw his eye widen in disbelief before closing again, his brow creasing, as well as his eyes squeezing tight as if he had a sudden, violent headache. Abby panicked and shot to her feet.

"Oh my God, are you in pain?...I'll call the nurse back!" She reached for the call button but his words made her pause.

"No...not pain. Please...are you sure...October?" He was wide awake now, his eyes pleading.

"I've no reason to lie to you...it's October the twenty fifth."

"Nine months...nine bloody months...crap!" He lay staring up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused as his brain tried to assimilate that his life had jumped nine months ahead of itself. Abby sat quietly and just held his hand, feeling it flex against her fingers like a trapped animal wanting to escape.

"Would you like some more water?" She asked, finally releasing his hand to ease a cramp in her fingers. The movement brought him back, and he turned his head to face her.

"You're not a nurse, are you? You said your name...Abby, wasn't it?"

It was deja vu all over again. She dreaded asking her next question, but knew she must.

"Yes...I'm Abby, Abby Maitland. We've...worked together. Don't you remember?"

She saw him trying, those expressive brows pulling together to find the memory that wasn't there. In the end he shook his head.

"I'm sorry...we worked together? Are you a palaeontologist?"

"No...I work in a Zoo...a reptile specialist."

"Oh...not a zoologist?"

"No. Just a glorified zoo keeper." She tried to make light of it, her lips pulling up in the ghost of a smile, but that was all. It had happened just like the last time. His memory had let them both down – again.

"I'm sorry. I can recall nearly everyone we've worked with over the past few years...but not you."

She told herself to not let it hurt, but it did. "Never mind, it's not important."

He frowned at her. "It must be pretty important. You're here right now, at...what time is it?"

She checked with the clock on the wall. "About four in the morning."

"Well either you're the most devoted employee I've ever come across...or your simply not telling me everything."

"Honestly, it's not important," she lied, willing the nagging ache in her heart to go away. "You should get back to sleep...you need to rest."

"I feel like I've been resting for a millennium. I'm sorry I upset you...I just don't...I can't..."

"Remember me. It's not the first time. I seem to have the knack of being forgettable." She again tried to make light of the hurt forming a knot in her chest. Clasping her hands in her lap she pressed her back against the chair in an attempt to distract herself. "Can you tell me what happened after you and Nick fell through the anomaly?"

She had thought it a reasonably simple question but his reaction was anything but simple.

"What the hell do you know about the anomalies?" He'd almost snarled the question, the cords in his neck standing out in bold relief as he strained to lift himself upright. The effort proved too much and he collapsed back, panting harshly, against the pillows. Abby had shot to her feet and now hovered over him, not knowing what to do for the best. Stephen had looked so angry it had taken her breath away.

"I told you, we've worked together, you and Nick, me and Connor and Sir James Lester, of the Home office. We've been attempting to contain the incursions through the fractures. It was at the last anomaly, when Nick came back, after Helen left, the anomaly seemed to expand and suck Nick back in, you dived for him and you both disappeared, the anomaly with you. You haven't been seen since."

Throughout her explanation, Stephen had watched her face with a fierce concentration, as if able to divine whether she was telling the truth from her expressions. Apparently satisfied that she was telling the truth as she knew it, he let go of his anger and turned his head way from her, his eyes staring off into the distance as he tried to make sense of what she'd said. For him, it made no sense at all. He'd never met the girl before, never worked with her, the whole anomaly project kept so hush hush that only a handful knew the truth. Even Cutter's wife wasn't in the loop, the relationship between Nick and Helen so acrimonious they tended to stay on either side of the planet if possible. And yet, here she was, this Abby, in the small hours of the night, tending him as if he was her husband, or boyfriend, certainly more than just a work mate. And what was all that about Helen going through the anomaly? Helen knew less than nothing about the project, and certainly wasn't a part of the team. The only people that had been present that day were the guys from the special ops team, Captain Ryan among them, Sir James Lester, the officious twerp, and Claudia Brown, their liaison and overseer of the souther counties area. There were certainly no pretty zoo keepers or anyone called Connor there to witness him and Nick being pulled through the anomaly and into hell.

He heard voices and turned his head to see the pretty blond talking to the night nurse, the two of them casting him covert glances as if expecting him to leap out of the bed and attack them. Fat chance. He felt as weak as a kitten and ached all over. They saw him looking at them, the nurse coming over to inquire if he wanted anything.

"A drink, a pee and a burger...in that order please."

The nurse only chuckled and turned to fetch a bottle for him to use. The girl, Abby, brought the water cup to his mouth and he sucked what remained down greedily. When the nurse returned, she left the room to give him privacy, he supposed. For a strange reason he didn't want her to leave his sight, the relief in physical discomfort tempered by the need to talk to her again. Her eyes had told him that she was hurt by his inability to remember her. She's lied when she'd said it wasn't important. It was. She'd also called herself forgettable. With her bleach blond hair, limpid blue eyes and kissable lips, she was anything but. If he'd met her, he'd have remembered her whatever the situation. There were precious few women in his life for him to carelessly forget one so memorable.

With his thirst quenched and his bladder relieved, he waited for the nurse to return before asking for the burger.

"All in good time Mister Hart. You're badly dehydrated and borderline malnourished. You'll be put on a special diet to build you up again, but too much too soon and you'll just make your recover that much longer. I'll see what I can sort out for you in the meantime." Rachel adopted a stern look. "And be nice to Miss Maitland. Without her, you'd still look like Grizzly Adams!"

She whisked out of the room and left him alone with his thoughts, his hand coming up to smooth over his face, noting the lack of beard with pleasure. He'd come to accept the prickly adornment, but was heartily glad to be rid of it.

As the minutes ticked by, he wondered if Abby would return. Rain still pattered on the window beyond the curtains, the occasional flash of lightning telling of a storm in the distance, no thunder indicating it was moving way. His body ached in more places than he cared to think about, and sleep was tugging at his eyelids again. He fought it as long as he could but eventually lost out to the inevitable, Abby finding him sound asleep on her return.

She had debated whether she should just gather her things and go home. She wanted to kick herself for being so idiotic as to get upset because he didn't remember her. He had obviously been through a traumatic situation on the other side of the anomaly, and it was hardly surprising if time had become a little muddled along the way. Somehow three months had turned into nine. How, she had no idea, but maybe when the Professor awoke he'd be able to shed some light on everything.

In the meantime she was done in, her eyes fighting to stay open. Climbing into the deep cushioning of the lazy boy, she curled up and closed her eyes. A blanket was laid over her soon after and she snuggled under its warmth, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep, only the white shock of her hair visible above the edge.

Satisfied that all her patients were as comfortable as she could make them, Nurse Rachel slipped quietly out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	9. Neon Light pt 2

10/9/07

Title: Neon Light – continued

Author: squeezynz

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Abby woke to hear voices talking quietly together. One held the unmistakable Scottish burr telling her Professor Cutter was awake at last. Snuggled under her blanket, she remained unmoving, feigning sleep and listening to the two men talk.

"Nine months?" Cutter was asking, his voice incredulous. "I'd not have taken odds we'd survive that long."

"We almost didn't."

"And this girl, this Abby...she claims to have worked with us, but you can't recall her name or face?"

"Believe me, Nick, you'd remember her. Smart, pretty and barely up to my chin."

"How would you know that, when you haven't stirred out of bed yet?"

She heard Stephen give a laugh, the sound making her heart jump.

"She's like a kitten that's been dipped in peroxide. According to the night nurse, she'd been here pretty much all day and all night."

"A faithful wee kitten then. Can't wait to speak to her. You know, there could be another explanation."

"Your thinking...?"

"Maybe...ach I don't know what I'm thinking. Best to leave it until we have more to go on."

"Damn...I'm still hungry. I hope they intend to feed us more than vitamin stuffed porridge for the next meal."

Abby decided it was time for her to make an appearance. Her ears were already burning, so she flung back the blanket and stretched, much like the kitten he'd described. Sitting up, she blinked at the two pairs of eyes regarding her from across the room.

"Morning."

"Morning Abby...Nick, this is Abby."

"Good morning Abby. I hear you've been here quite awhile. You'll excuse me if I don't get up and shake your hand, I'm a bit laid up at the moment."

Abby ran an agitated hand through her hair, making it spike and stick out in all direction. "Oh Lord, you don't recognize me either, do you!"

"Sorry...no." Nick gave her a lopsided smile and glanced over at Stephen, as if silently confirming his friends apt description of her.

"For heaven's sake," Abby huffed, feeling rumpled and sticky and out of sorts. "You can't both have hit your heads and lost your memories?"

"I wasn't aware I'd hit my head at all!" Stephen answered, careful not to knock the drip still attached to his hand as he inched himself further up the pillows. Seeing his struggle, Abby stepped up to the side of the bed and efficiently levered up the back, helping him to lean forward so she could position the pillows at his back. Nick watched the performance with a lopsided grin, noting how Stephen kept his eyes on her face the whole time while she mussed over him and tried not to touch any of the expanse of bare skin close to her fingers.

"Comfortable?" She asked at last, looking up to find his blue eyes focused on her with no trace of sleep or sedative to dull their brilliance.

"Thank you."

She stepped away from the bed and went to the chair to busy herself folding the blanket. It was full daylight outside and she pulled back the curtains a little. "Are you up to some sunshine?"

Getting a nod from them both, she pulled the curtains back to the walls so that sunlight flooded the room. After the storm the night before, everything looked polished and clean, droplets of moisture still clinging to ledges and catching the sun like diamonds.

"You can expect a visit from Lester this morning. He'll have a ton of questions for you to answer...I have only one." She stood at the end of the beds, the blanket held against her body in a defensive posture. "How can three months absence be stretched to nine?" She paused to let the question sink in. "You left here the middle of July, and now it's near the end of October. That's near enough to three months even by the most generous of calculations.

"July? No...we were dragged into the anomaly in February...not July!" Nick retorted, glancing over at Stephen for confirmation.

Abby frowned down at her boots. "How is that possible? Did Helen say there was anything different about the passage of time while she was there?"

"Helen! What's she got to do with this?" Nick, like Stephen before him, was now looking angry, his eyes shooting dagger at her.

"Woah, don't scowl at me, it's not my fault everything is screwed up." Abby tried to think of something else to calm the man down. "You were taking back the future predator babies, and you returned saying that Ryan and his men were dead. Then Helen said she was going back, just before dropping her bomb shell, and then you started babbling about a Claudia Brown, who we'd never heard of before. Then poof...you were both gone."

"Future predator?" Nick asked.

"What bombshell?" Stephen chimed in, both men looking at her as if she'd grown two head.

"I don't believe this. I need some breakfast." Casting them both a fulminating look, Abby left the room, ignoring their calls for her to come back. Leaving the blanket at the nurses station with her thanks, she made her way to the hospital cafeteria and bought some breakfast and a pot of tea. She had no idea what was going on with Nick and Stephen, their behavior too bizarre for her to fathom. While she munched on a slice of toast and marmalade, she tried to figure out what might have happened. All the previous trips through the anomalies hadn't made the traveler lose his or her memory, as far as she was aware. So why now? She remembered that during the Dodo incursion, Stephen had taken off after Helen with Ryan but ended up facing a whole slew of anomalies, a nexus they called it, of portals to other times and places in history. A suspicion was starting to grow in her mind and she hurriedly gulped down her tea before running back to the room.

On entering, she interrupted a heated discussion between the two men, their argument ending abruptly with her appearance.

"I think I know what's happened!" she blurted out breathlessly.

"We have our own theories, but fire away Abby," said Nick, propping himself up on his elbows and waiting for her to speak.

"First, I need you to tell me what was the first creature you saw when the anomalies started to appear?"

The two men exchanged a glance. Stephen answered. "It was a Moschops, one of the Therapsid group. Big heavy bastard, but a vegetarian. Mid Permian Period being the most probable source. Liked the water and took up residence at a golf course, in their lake."

"You were lucky. We had a Gorgonopsid on the loose in the Forest of Dean. Killed several people before our Stephen shot it." She registered the looks of shock on their faces with no little satisfaction. Take that, you memory challenged tough guys. "You're not my Stephen Hart and Professor Cutter."

Satisfied that she'd outsmarted the smart guys, she sat herself down in the easy chair and waited for the fireworks to begin.

"We've come back to the wrong time," Nick stared at Abby in some horror. "We're in the wrong time line."

Stephen appeared to be struck dumb, frowning down at the bed covers as he sorted through his thoughts.

"You look the same, talk the same, even know similar things, but I'm betting that you aren't." Another thought suddenly struck her and she clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"What Abby? What is it?" Nick asked urgently.

"I've just had a horrible thought. What if the Nick and Helen that came back to our time, weren't the right people either? It could explain why you...er...he kept asking after this girl, Claudia Brown, as if we should know her...which we didn't."

"Oh my God." Nick breathed, falling back on his pillows and staring at the ceiling.

"Told you she was smart." Muttered Stephen, closing his eyes and rubbing his hands over his face in a dry wash. "What the hell do we do now?"

At that precise moment the door opened and Sir James Lester entered with his PA, the woman quickly setting herself up in the corner with a lap top perched on her knees.

"Good morning Professor Cutter, Stephen...Miss Maitland. How are we all today?"

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Abby dragged herself into her flat and slid the door closed behind her. She ached all over, even down to her eye lashes. Connor was banging about in the kitchen and just popped his head out to welcome her home, before returning to his current culinary experiment. Rex was up on top of a shelf and glided down to the table to greet her, the reptile bringing a smile to her face while she flopped down on the couch and kicked her shoes off.

"That's it. I'm not wasting my time with the girl thing every again. You men can all get stuffed."

Connor appeared out of the kitchen, a tea towel draped over one shoulder. "Had a bad day?"

"You're not going to believe this...they're not the right ones."

"What?" Giving her a confused look, Connor perched on the edge of the coffee table and waited for her to continue.

"I mean, the Stephen and Nick that came back, are not our Stephen and Nick...and worse, the Nick that came back before, was quite possibly not our Nick Cutter either."

"Cripes. That's a bit of a mind bender."

"And some. It took ages to convince Lester, and almost as much to convince them. It's a complete mess."

"A right paradox's, aren't they?" Connor joked, but Abby only managed to raise a feeble smile.

"I'm going to get cleaned up...don't run the water while I'm in the shower."

"But I've cooked...macaroni and cheese, my favourite."

"Then I suggest you get back to it...I can smell cheese burning."

Connor twisted his head and sniffed several times like a dog scenting the wind. The smell of cheese was getting stronger. "Shit!"

Abby didn't wait to see the outcome, preferring to drag herself to the shower and let the hot water pummel her senseless. Half an hour later she emerged feeling a new woman, swathed from neck to ankle in her toasty toweling robe, the rich sapphire colour making her eyes appear brighter and more intense. Connor was sitting at the table scraping macaroni cheese off the bottom of a saucepan, another plate piled high sitting at a place on the opposite side of the table.

"I saved you some," Connor indicated the bowl with his wooden spoon, his face liberally smeared with white sauce.

"Not now...I couldn't face it. I think I'll crash and see you in the morning." She ignored his crestfallen expression and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other up the stairs to her bedroom loft. Rex was perched on the railing, chirruping his welcome as she collapsed onto the bed and just lay there, enjoying the sensation of being horizontal.

Morning found her in no better frame of mind, the night plagued with dreams of finding dead bodies with the face of Stephen Hart on every one, lifeless blue eyes staring up at her accusingly.

She barreled through breakfast hardly tasting a thing, the tea scalding her tongue and putting her in a worse mood than she already was. She'd told Connor to make sure he left the key for Cutter's place on the table, Abby given the job of finding clothes for the men to wear from their respective homes. That, in fact, these weren't the right men and the homes belonged to another Nick and Stephen seemed pointless to argue. They looked the same, spoke the same and would fit the same clothes. Stomping bad temperedly out of her flat, she slammed into the mini and drove across town to Nick's house.

She found a bag in the wardrobe and stuffed various items of clothing into it, taking care to make sure there were multiples of some as she had no idea how long they would be kept in hospital. After raiding the Professors bathroom, she zipped up the bag and stomped out of the house, locking it behind her.

Her next stop was Stephen's apartment, her steps not so sure as she trudged up the stairway to the fourth floor. With a twinge of bitterness she remembered her excitement when she's come here the first time after they'd disappeared. His plants were still back at her place, thriving in the warmer atmosphere needed for her reptile pets. Slightly out of breath, she paused on the landing and fiddled with the key. The exercise had worn some of the bad temper out of her, and she approached his front door with a calmer perspective. She glanced at the door a few feet down, on the other side, and wondered if Sue Richards was back from her trip. Slipping the key in the lock, she pushed open the door and entered Stephen's home.

This time she didn't dawdle, didn't gawk at his belonging and mementos. She bypassed the office with the photo tucked under the pile of journals and went straight into the bedroom. Pretending she couldn't see the photo block on the bedside table, she started to pull open drawers and throw clothes onto the bed before attacking the wardrobe to search for an overnight bag and shoes. Finding a back pack that would do, she tossed that on the pile on the bed, before choosing a coat and boots to add. A quick side trip to the bathroom added the last items and she spent several minutes stuffing them all into the back pack in a random fashion, unaware of the tears snaking slowly down her cheek. One plopped onto a shirt leaving a damp circle and taking her by surprise. Lifting her hand to her cheek she found it wet and stared at it, unable to comprehend why she was crying. Leaving the packing of the bag, she sat on the side of the bed and buried her face in her hands.

It was all so hopeless. It was bad enough when she just had to cope with the fact of his previous affair with Helen Cutter, but even that paled into insignificance when compared with dealing with an entirely different man with none of their shared history to draw on. For all she knew he could be married in his own time, have children, be shacked up with Alison or Helen or both. Where did that leave Abby Maitland?

Right where she was now, sitting on his bed in a room she was never likely to see ever again, sniffling like a lovelorn teenager and wishing for the moon. It was all so bloody unfair. Falling back on the bed, she rolled to the side and buried her wet face in the covers to weep out her frustration. A few minutes later she drew in some long, deep breaths to calm herself down and lifted her head off the covers.

"Oh damn and blast!" She stared down at the covers only to find one of his soft shirts had lain where she'd been, the fabric now liberally smeared with tears and makeup. Screwing it up into a ball, she threw it at the bedroom doorway, before rummaging for a replacement and resuming her battle with the back pack to zip it closed. After smoothing out the wrinkles on the bed, she marched out of the room, snatching up the dirty shirt as she went.

The front door locked behind her with the sound of finality, the key turning in the well oiled mechanism and sealing it once more beyond her reach. Not bothering to fix her face, she decided to go down in the lift and pressed the button to call it. It arrived empty and she stepped aboard. On the ground floor she walked back to her car in a somber mood. A few wet wipes cleared up the mess around her eyes, but couldn't hide the fact she'd been crying.

"Idiot." She swore at herself in the rear view mirror before buckling up and setting off for the hospital. She intended to just leave the bags at the nurses station, rather than face Nick and Stephen again. She knew it was cowardly but she'd had enough hard knocks in the past few days. Heaving the bags out of her car, she made her way to the lifts and prepared to make a quick getaway.

She should have remembered the old adage about best laid plans.

She had just dumped the bags at the nurses station, scrawling a hasty message and dropping the keys into an envelope, then turned to go when a man stepped out of the bathroom door within a few feet of the desk. He had a towel around his neck and was rubbing at his short, dark brown hair, another towel wrapped around his hips, his feet bare. Abby had seen him and found herself frozen like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes round and mouth open. The nurses had also noticed and were unashamedly craning to get a better view.

She'd never thought Stephen Hart carried much weight before, now the effects of his time away were more than evident. Every inch of him was sleek muscle and sinew, his arms and shoulders rippling with the simple effort of toweling his hair dry. His skin was tanned everywhere and as yet, the man was unaware of his interested audience. One of the nurses leant too far and a tray crashed to the ground, making the women scatter like startled rabbits leaving Abby the only one to be caught out when Stephen turned to investigate the racket.

An amused eyebrow, above thickly lashed blue eyes, quirked and she fled, her feet carrying her at a swift trot back to the bank of lifts. She punched the call button repeatedly and kept her eyes on the slowly blinking numbers above the doors, prayer for the wretched machine to go faster.

"Running away?"

Refusing to look at him, she tossed her head, her eyes still fixed on the illuminated numbers, which now appeared fixed at several floor above the one she was on. "Gawd no...I have to get back..some of us have to earn a living, you know." She was careful to keep her face averted in case he noticed how red rimmed her eyes were or the faint smears of mascara still streaking her cheeks. The lift finally arrived and she tried to enter but a hand closed around her arm and prevented her from moving. The people waiting inside summed up the situation and pressed the button to close the doors, leaving her fuming and the lift gone again.

The arm holding her in place slowly turned her so that she face him. The task of keeping her face averted now meant she was staring at his mid section, the sun tanned skin across his stomach muscles a direct contrast to the snow white of the towel.

"What is it Abby? Why have you been crying?"

With her cover blown, she gave up trying not look at him and tilted her head to meet his eyes.

"It's nothing, I got something in my eye."

"Liar," he replied softly, his gaze sweeping over her features like a caress.

Abby couldn't believe she was just standing there staring up at him. Heat was roiling off him, his skin still peppered with droplets of water, the hair at the base of his throat curling against his skin and still damp. She had to clench her hands into fists to quell the urge to span the breadth of his shoulders, to touch him and find out how his skin felt. She took in a deep breath and instantly regretted it, the warm smell of freshly washed male invaded her lungs and pores and making her want to do something wicked.

Instead she took a step back and came up against the cold metal of the lift door.

"Did you want something?" She croaked, casting a look to either side, like a cornered animal looking to escape.

"To say thank you."

"No need." She inched her hand across the surface of the lift door, searching for the button to summon it again. To her consternation, Stephen leant forward, his long arm reaching out past her. Unable to help herself, she closed her eyes and left him wash over her, the faint caress of his breath on her cheek, the lingering trace of scent from the hospital soap and borrowed shampoo. She needed the cold metal wall behind her just to stop her slithering to the floor in an undignified heap.

"Abby? Are you alright?"

She suddenly opened her eyes to find him looking down at her with a heart warming look of concern on his face. What she wouldn't give to have that look really mean something. Averting her eyes, she shook her head, unable to speak due to the lump welling up in her throat. Unable to bear it a moment longer, she ducked past him and set off down and around the corridor at a run like a fox chased by hounds. The nurses all looked up in surprise as she raced past, the stair door opening and banging loudly off the wall as she barreled through, almost falling headlong down the stairs in her haste.

She kept up her speed, jumping several stairs at a time, ending up out of breath and a stitch in her side by the time she reached the bottom. Now she did slide down the wall and sat on the cold linoleum floor, gasping for breath. Her gasps sounded abnormally loud in the stairwell, but she just couldn't seem to catch her breath.

Now she felt like a complete idiot and just wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.

She lost track of time, her breathing eventually slowing and her heart no longer knocking about in her chest like a deranged piston. How on earth did she get herself into these messes. Stephen must think she's a complete head case, rushing past him like that and not even bothering to answer his simple question – was she alright? As far as Abby was concerned, right here and now she was anything but alright, in fact she felt completely out of control of her feelings. Where before she had been living on hope that one day he'd be returned and maybe, just maybe they would get the chance to find out if all those long glances and shared smiles would lead to something, now it was as if all hope was gone. Sure he looked like him, minus a few pounds, talked like him and for all intents and purposes was him. But she knew that whatever she'd shared with her Stephen, was lost and gone. If her theory was true, then her Stephen was lost somewhere in time, out there among the anomalies, maybe chatting up another Abby, from another time or maybe he was already dead, eaten by a future mutant, his bones bleaching white in some forgotten corner of the universe.

"Dammit – stop it!" Her voice rang hollow and strange in the deserted stairwell, her bottom now thoroughly cold and numb from the floor. The sound of a door banging somewhere above her galvanised her into action, getting her on her feet and pushing out of the basement door and back into the hospital lobby. The door swung shut behind her as she crossed the exposed expanse of flooring, her head down and hands jammed into her jeans pockets. Her collision with someone just before she reached the outside door, made her lash out defensively, a hand catching hers before it could connect.

"Woah...Abby, I've got enough bruises without you adding to them!"

She jerked back as if stung, staring in shocked disbelief at Stephen as if he'd materialised in front of her from the ether. He was no longer sporting the far-too-revealing towel and was dressed in the clothes she'd brought over for him. They sat loosely, a couple of sizes too big on his leaner frame, but now made him look even more disturbingly like her Stephen. "What are you doing here? You should still be in bed?" She accused him, glaring up at him while fighting the urge to throw herself on him.

"I couldn't let you leave like that, you were in quite a state."

"I wasn't...I just had to leave in a hurry." She tugged at the hold he still had on her hand. He didn't release her.

"Such a hurry that you've been sitting in the stairwell for the past thirty minutes?"

"I have not!" she flared up at him, deciding to reverse her efforts in freeing her hand, pushing with all her might and ending up thumping him squarely on the chest with considerable force. Stephen let go of her hand, his own coming up to cradle where she'd hit him, his face contorting in a grimace of pain as he folded in on himself. Abby was instantly contrite, her arms going around him even as a passing nurse rushed over to help.

"Oh God, I'm sorry...really, really sorry," He was doubled over now and she held him against her, the nurse taking in the situation at a glance.

"Is he alright? Shall I get a doctor?" the nurse asked, bending over to peer at his face.

"I don't know...I didn't think I hit him that hard...Stephen?" She gave the nurse a worried glance, "he was supposed to be in bed...recovering...dammit Stephen, say something?"

"Do you always punch out people who are trying to talk to you?" his head was coming up, a smile twisting his lips as he drew in a shallow breath, his hand still pressed to his chest. Abby lifted his free arm and placed it over her shoulders, intending to take his weight.

"No. But with you I thought I'd make an exception." He was more upright now, his face a trifle grey but a rueful gleam in his blue eyes.

"I'll try to remember that. If it's not too much trouble, do you think you can see me back to my room?"

Her own troubles forgotten, Abby nodded, seating his arm more firmly about her shoulders as they made their slow way to back to the lifts. Stephen sent a grateful smile to the nurse, who smiled back and wished she'd been the one to help, instead of the blond now leading him away.

He'd been right, Abby barely came up to his chin, her arm doing it's best to support him around his back while her other hand held his arm about her shoulders. Her punch had caught him right on one of his bite wounds, the pain making him gasp, but not life threatening. He was quite able to walk unaided, but having this girl, who one minute was looking like her world had ended, then flaring up at him like an enraged lioness, help him back to his room was too good an opportunity for him to pass up.

"I can walk fine now," he told her, smiling crookedly once the lift door had closed on them, Abby reluctantly letting go of him.

"I'm sorry...I didn't think."

"Don't apologise, it was my fault. I shouldn't have tried to stop you."

Sweeping her fringe out of her face, she looked up at him. "Why did you? You don't know me, don't owe me anything? Why drag yourself after me?"

"Because I feel...I don't know...responsible. You were expecting your Stephen to return, not me. You obviously had feelings for him, strong ones. I can't imagine the shock you've been through finding out that I'm not him. It's a big enough shock to me."

"That's not your fault...and my Stephen...well, we never said or did anything...it was just this thing between us."

"Well, whatever it was...he's not here and I am, and I feel somehow responsible." The lift had arrived at their floor, the doors opening to reveal one of the ward nurses looking agitated. On seeing Stephen her face relaxed, but then she scowled at Abby.

"Mister Hart is supposed to be in his bed, not chasing about this hospital!"

"My fault entirely, Abby didn't know..." Stephen started to say, only to have Abby talk over him.

"It was all my fault, I'm sorry..."

Stephen was visibly wilting, his face grey. Abby glanced at him and instantly ducked under his arm to take his weight. "He needs to get into bed right away nurse."

"I agree with you, I'll take the other side, are you alright?"

"Sure."

Between them, Abby and the nurse got Stephen back to his room and laid him on his bed, Nick Cutter looking on in amusement that his roommate appeared back so soon. His amusement fled when he noticed that Stephen really was ill, the nurse frowning as she took his pulse. Abby hovered, her eyes worried as she shifted from one foot to the other.

"Is he alright?" Nick asked, already pushing back the covers to get a closer look. The nurse glanced up and shook a finger at him.

"Oh no you don't. Get back into bed and don't move. This young man will be fine when he learns that he's not here because we like the colour of his eyes. He needs to rest and recover his strength, as do you." Stephen was coming around, blinking up at the nurse.

"What hit me?"

"You're own stupidity," the nurse retorted sharply, Stephen glancing at Abby and mouthing "ouch" then wincing theatrically, making Abby give a snort of laughter. The nurse looked around but Abby was already looking out the window, apparently absorbed by the view. Nick decided he'd drawn enough attention, and settled back under the covers, leaving Stephen to cope on his own.

"Do I have to post a guard to keep you bed bound?" The nurse was asking, her checks all done.

"No."

"Good. Lunch will be in half an hour gentlemen, don't make me come looking for you."

Nobody said anything until the door had closed behind the nurse. Then Abby started to giggle, followed by Stephen who laughed weakly while Nick's shoulders heaved before he too burst out laughing. When the tears came they were from laughter not grief, and Abby couldn't stop the smile that stayed with her as she wiped her streaming eyes.

"Stephen Hart, dinosaur hunter, laid low by the Nurse Nazi," Nick joked, provoking another round of laughter until Stephen begged for them to stop.

"It hurts too much," he wheezed, holding his arm across his chest protectively.

"I'm glad you're here Abby, I wanted to thank you for fetching our gear. These hospital gowns are not exactly the most comfortable," Nick fidgeted in his bed, "or the most practical, there's a horrible draft in the back."

The nurse had taken Stephen's jacket and shoes and he lay on his bed in a t-shirt, jeans and socks, the room no longer spinning on a crazy axis.

"Yeah, from me to. I think my counterpart was a little meatier than me." Illustrating his point, he hooked his thumb in the waistband of his trousers, showing inches to spare.

"Not exactly," said Abby, curling herself up in the comfortable chair which was still where she'd left it.

"I don't imagine there were many McDonald's where you were."

Nick grinned at her, "Not even a McDodo's, and I believe, from all accounts, they made good eating, if you were hungry enough."

A knock at the door announced the arrival of their lunch trays, Abby unwinding herself to finally take her leave. While the orderly set the trays of the end tables, Abby made to slip out only to have Stephen move as if to get out of bed. She instantly darted back and stood in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm not up to carting you back up here again."

"I was just going to make sure, before you left, that you'd come back."

Abby held up two fingers in the scout salute. "Scouts honour. Now I really have to go."

"Tomorrow then?"

"Hell yeah," she flashed him a smile as she turned to go. "I'm dying to hear all about your world. You know, compare notes about dinosaurs and dodo's. What season of Dr.Who you're up to? The usual..."

"Dr.What?"

"Not what, who!" Abby called on her way out. Behind her she left two men giving each other a baffled look. Stephen shook his head and reached for the plate cover to find out what was for lunch.

"Oh yay...eggs and porridge!"

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tbc...


	10. Warm Light

14/9/07

Title: Warm Light

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note(1): I want to point out that I will only be dealing with two of the potential parallel universes for the purposes of this story. Basically, two sets of Nick and Stephen have swapped time lines, and now have to cope in each other's alternative worlds. This raises issues for the people left behind and the people they now meet for the first time – again. Hopefully this will make things a little clearer. If not, then do let me know and I'll try to explain. This chapter continues on where the last left off.

Author's Note(2): Sorry for the delay in posting, but I had a computer meltdown end of last week, and only now got everything re-installed and running again. Lost all of my emails/contacts/address book because of a damn virus (virtumonde)...totally sucky.

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The week passed quickly for Abby, her time split between her job at the Zoo, and visiting the hospital, there chatting for hours with Stephen and Nick. Connor had finished his exams and visited with her, the room ringing with laughter as they discussed the various creatures that had been discovered in their respective time lines. Early on, Abby had questioned Stephen's scar, wondering how he'd managed to get bitten in both time lines by the same creature. It transpired that where the Arthropleura had appeared in the London Underground in Abby's world, in company with the giant spider-like species of Solufugae; in the parallel time line the giant crustacean-like creature inhabited the basement of an abandoned block of flats, due for demolition. Stephen tried to down play his part, but Nick wouldn't let him, telling an enthralled Abby how Stephen had rescued several homeless teenagers who'd been squatting at the flats, before being attacked himself and poisoned. Nick had ended up fighting the beast to extract the venom, with Captain Ryan eventually shooting it, because the anomaly, that allowed it to come through, had already closed.

"And did it affect your memory?" Abby asked casually, drawing patterns on the arm of the chair with her finger.

"Couldn't remember a thing for nearly a week. Then bits and pieces started to come back to me. I still have gaps. Why do you ask?" Stephen was watching her, suddenly realising that his answer had some importance to her.

"Nothing important, just curious." Abby lied, then yawned and got up out of the sinfully comfortable easy chair, a glance at the clock confirming that it was time she left. "Sorry, gotta go. Got an early start tomorrow. We're moving the lions to their new enclosure."

"Then we won't be seeing you tomorrow." Stephen stated flatly, already missing her sense of fun and wide smile.

"Not in the morning, no. But I haven't forgotten they're finally letting you guys go home, so Connor and I will be here to pick you up on time."

"Not in the mini I hope," Nick retorted, making Abby burst out laughing.

"Gawd no...it's bad enough having Connor, but all three of you and I think it would burst!" She tried to wipe the smile of her face but gave up, "No...I had a call from the CMU, and they've made the car that my Nick and Stephen used to use. It's been gathering dust in the University garage since they went missing, so the Home Office pulled some strings, and you get to use it instead. Of course, if the guys come back and you're still here there could be a fight."

"What sort of car is it?" Nick asked, ignoring her crack about the other Nick and Stephen.

"Not exactly a car, more like a truck. All I can tell you is, it's big, enough space to accommodate a couple of dinosaurs, a rear deck, roof rack and bull bars. Oh, and really big tires. A real boys toy if you ask me, but there'll be more than enough room for everybody and all your gear."

"Are you calling us a couple of dinosaurs!" Nick asked indignantly, expecting Stephen and Abby to laugh, which they did.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow...about two, okay?"

"Bye Abby," said Nick settling himself back against the stack of pillows, a journal in his hand. He'd been doing a ton of catching up after Connor supplied him with a selection of recent journals taken from his counterparts office.

"I'll walk you to the lift," Stephen offered, swinging his legs off the bed and padding after her. After a week of disgustingly healthy food and bed rest, he was recovering nicely and regaining his former levels of weight and fitness. His skin had peeled and healed and left him renewed and invigorated. The enforced stay in the hospital had stretched the limits of his tolerance to being confined, and now he wanted to get out. Tomorrow would be the first day he'd see the new world they'd been transported to.

In the corridor, he fell into step beside the diminutive blond, his hands gravitating to the pockets of his jeans, hers stuffed into her jacket pockets.

"I suppose you can't wait to get out there and see what's different, what's the same?"

Having her voice his own thoughts was uncanny. "Exactly. Do you think he'd mind?"

"Mind what?"

"Me – moving into his flat, taking over his life."

"I'm not sure I know him well enough to voice an opinion," Abby replied, "but I know he's kind, and I think he'd be intrigued with the whole situation, so no, I don't think he'd mind."

"The Home Office did offer to set me up somewhere else, but as the flat is unoccupied..."

"Makes perfect sense. Just don't go doing any major redecorating just yet. Oh, and I think Stephen used to have a housekeeper come in."

"No girlfriend?"

"He did, but they didn't work out...grew apart, he said."

"Ah..."

"What about you? Is there someone waiting for you...back in your own time?"

"Not any more. I don't imagine she's languished in my absence. Nine months would be eight months too long for Alison to grieve over me. She always hated black."

They'd reached the lifts and were waiting for it to arrive.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Alison was a virologist and spent most of our relationship on the other side of the world, in some jungle or other."

"While you chased dinosaurs," Abby murmured, not unhappy with his answers to questions she wanted to ask all week.

The lift doors pinged open and she stepped inside, looking back out at Stephen who lifted his hand in farewell before the doors closed.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

When Abby returned the following afternoon, she was late, skidding to a halt outside and almost falling into the room when someone yanked the door handle open, just as she closed her fingers over it. On the other side stood an attractive woman with soft brown eyes and shoulder length chestnut hair.

"You must be Abby." The woman held out her hand. "I'm Claudia Marsden, standing in for Sir James."

Abby shook the hand, noticing the expensive French nails and gold watch. "Oh...I came to pick up Nick and Stephen."

Even as she spoke, Stephen poked his head around the corner and sent her a wide smile. "Taxi's arrived."

Claudia glanced over her shoulder and gave him a tight smile. "Then I can safely leave you in her hands. Professor Cutter, are you ready to go?"

Abby stepped back into the corridor as the Home Office woman came out, followed by Nick, a smug expression on his face. Stephen quickly followed, toting his bag on his shoulder. A nurse bustled up and handed the men envelopes with their discharge paperwork.

"Then you're going with her?" Abby asked Nick, looking a little lost.

"I didn't think you'd mind Abby," Nick smiled down at her, his blue eyes flicking back to the statuesque Claudia. "Mrs. Marsden suggested that I might find it a little awkward going back to the other Nick Cutters house on my own, so Sir James sent her to help me 'settle in', so to speak."

"Mrs.?" Abby asked quietly, leaning forward so only Nick could hear.

"Divorced," Nick replied in a whisper, his eyes dancing. Abby smiled at his boyish charm, and waved him away. She and Stephen watched them turn the corner before facing each other.

"Just you and me then," Abby grinned brightly, not at all sorry to have him all to herself.

"Ready when you are."

"Got everything?" She asked, setting out along the corridor towards the lifts.

"Including the kitchen sink," he quipped, turning to give the nurses at the station a quick wave goodbye. Several waved back and he wondered how many bits of notepaper were stuffed into the pockets of his bags with phone numbers on. Abby was also aware of the interest from the Nurses.

"You didn't pack a spare Nurse to bring along...just in case?" She asked, punching the call button for the lift. "I imagine there were plenty of volunteers."

"Is it my fault they find me irresistible?"

"Well if you didn't make a habit of wandering around the hallway all the time wearing nothing but a teeny tiny towel, they'd probably stop throwing themselves at you."

"But you were there too, more often than not, and you haven't thrown yourself at me." He grinned down at her as they entered the lift, Abby punching the button for the lobby.

The banter continued all the way out of the hospital and into the car park. Abby insisting on driving back to his place, citing his unfamiliarity with the roads as her excuse for driving the big truck.

"I'll let you get away with that excuse this once," Stephen teased, "but are you sure you can reach the pedals?" He received a glare and a punch for his jest, Abby spending a few minutes adjusting the seat position before buckling herself in and turning the key in the ignition.

"You should think yourself privileged to be driven by me. I'm not the one who goes about crashing into Gorgonopsids and wrecking the front of the car. In fact, my driving record is spotless."

Stephen laughed at her prim expression, Abby unable to hold it for long and joining in merrily.

They pulled up outside the apartment block and Stephen peered up at the building. "Not exactly what I expected. A bit posh." He glanced sideways at Abby. "I can't see myself affording anything here, not on what I earn. Was your Stephen a son of a millionaire?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Abby didn't like revealing that she knew precious little about her Stephen, his financial status, or any other personal information. "He tended to keep to himself, so it's quite possible. Or maybe he just didn't spend it on anything else."

Stephen grabbed the back pack from the rear of the truck and shut the door, Abby activating the central locking with the keyring. Together they approached the entrance lobby. As they did, a woman stepped out of the lift and saw them, her face lighting up as she approached.

"Stephen, dear boy, you're back at last." Not giving him time to explain, she placed her hands on either side of his face and gave him a smacking kiss. "You've been away for ages...where have you been hiding? Poor Abby here has been taking care of your plants and your place, so you'll have to reward the dear girl with a meal somewhere nice. So pleased to see you back darling, gotta run, bye Abby..."

Then she was gone, tripping across the car park to her own car, high heels tapping and hand waving goodbye.

Stephen stared after her in some bemusement, his lips smeared with bright lipstick from the kiss. Abby also stared after the woman, pleased to see her back and amused at her reception of him.

"Who was that?"

"Your immediate neighbour across the hall, Sue Richards in forty three. Stephen would ask her to take care of his plants when he was away, that sort of thing. She's nice."

The lift had arrived and they stepped inside, Stephen taking a moment to wipe the lipstick off his lips. He only managed to smear it further, so Abby offered to clean him up.

"Stand still, you missed some." She pulled a crumpled tissue out of her pocket and reached up, her hand pausing in mid air. "It would help if you leant down, you're too tall."

Stephen dutifully obeyed and even pouted his lips to make her task easier. Ignoring the surge of warmth that suffused her from top to bottom, Abby carefully wiped away the last of the lipstick, pocketing the tissue just as the lift door opened. She went on ahead and fished out her keyring.

"I'll take this off and give it to you..." she said after unlocking the door and starting to struggle with removing the key from the bunch in her hand.

"Don't." Stephen almost barked at her, making her drop the keys on the ground. "I mean, I'm sure that's not the only key to the place, and if it is, we'll get another."

"You want me to have a spare?" Abby asked, a little surprised but also a little pleased. "Why?"

"Well...you never know when having someone else with a spare could come in handy." He shrugged and walked inside the apartment, seeing it for the first time. Abby hung back by the front door, feeling like an intruder. That was until Stephen came looking for her and dragged her inside by the hand, the door slamming shut behind her.

"What are you hanging about for, come in. You have as much right to be here as I do!"

"Which is not at all," Abby muttered, dropping her keys, and the keys to the truck, on the kitchen bench. She'd already gone to the trouble of stocking his fridge with a few essentials, expecting that he'd want to go shopping before long for his own groceries. She's also made sure there was a local directory handy for him to refer to, along with a current AA map book, to enable him to find his way around.

Stephen had disappeared down the hall towards the bedroom and she hung back, deciding to boil up the kettle in the meantime. With her back to the kitchen, she called out over her shoulder.

"Connor will be here to pick me up in about an hour or so, if you can put up with me until then."

"I think I could put up with you a lot longer than that." His voice near to her ear made her jump. It was like the seal tunnel all over again. She'd wondered then, if the Future Predator hadn't come at that inopportune time, if her Stephen would have kissed her, there in the soft light from the aquarium. Now, here he was, close enough she could almost count the individual lashes framing his eyes, and all she could think of was how he'd taste and feel.

"You really are too tall," was all she managed to blurt out, her cheeks burning an instant later from embarrassment. The kettle chose that moment to boil, Abby turning away to fuss over the plunger pot, being unable to unearth an ordinary tea pot in her cursory search of the cupboards. "I made tea."

"Abby...do I even stand a chance?"

She paused, a cup on one hand, about to pass it too him. "I don't know what you mean?" He took the cup from her hand and placed it back on the bench.

"I mean...do you think I have a chance of ever being more than his doppelganger, his copy to you? I know you cared for him, but could you ever care for me?"

He was too close and she felt trapped, both by him and her own conflicted emotions. "I think..." she swallowed, a lump almost strangling her as she tried to explain. "I think I could come to care for you a great deal...but right now, I don't know what to do. I've only known you a week, and I knew him for months, but even then I didn't really know him, he never spoke about himself except in the most off hand of ways. I just don't..."

Her confused attempt to explain was effectively cut off when he kissed her, the embrace short and intense, but enough to rock her foundation to the core. When he pulled back, she followed, meeting him halfway this time, her mouth fusing with his in a greedy kiss that demanded more and accepted nothing less than everything. At some point she was lifted up to sit on the kitchen bench, bringing her height up to equal his, her arms finding their natural place about his neck and his own looped around her waist. This time the kiss went on forever, Stephen standing between her knees, flush up against the bench, Abby toying with the hair at his nape while his fingers spread over her back, pressing her against him.

Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening cut across everything.

Connor backed through the door and kicked it shut, shouting a greeting as he manhandled the box in his arms down the front hallway and into the kitchen. "Hi there, sorry I'm a bit early, but I thought you'd want to look over these, bring you up to date sort of. Is that a pot of tea?"

Abby was still sitting on the counter, her legs crossed and a cup in her hand. Stephen had his back to the room and stood at the sink, refilling the kettle and setting it to boil again.

"Hi Connor, come in. Fancy a cup?" How he kept his voice even and calm, Stephen didn't know, his heart still thumping in his chest while his physical reaction to the kiss was slowly subsiding, with difficulty. Abby looked flushed, her eyes very bright and her lips quite swollen from his kisses.

"Yes please, wouldn't say no." Connor flopped into one of the kitchen chairs and looked about the room. "Well this is very nice...very smart. Don't you think, Abby?"

Abby jumped down from the counter and slid into one of the chairs, her cup cradled between her hands. "Yes, we were just saying something similar." She willed her cheeks to stop burning and chewed on her lips, making them appear even redder than usual, their surface tingling with awareness.

Now she'd done it, she'd kissed him. What on Earth had she been thinking? Was she a complete idiot? And where did that leave her if the other Stephen came back, how would she explain that? Oh, I'm sorry Stephen, but I kissed Stephen here, because you were missing and he wasn't and you both look alike, and I thought I'd see what it was like, because you never asked me. Abruptly, Abby mentally slammed the door on that conversation. Groaning inwardly she avoided looking at Stephen altogether, and just stared at Connor in a vaguely unfocused way, that had the young man wondering what he had hanging out of his nose.

His body once more under control, Stephen joined them at the table and listened to Connor chatter on about his exams, his plans for the semester break, and when did they expect another anomaly to appear, and did Stephen and Nick have any idea what the next incursion would likely spit out, and could he have a tour of the flat.

"What? Oh sure...I suppose, go have a look." Stephen waved the younger man off, internally wondering what he'd missed while he spaced out for the past couple of minutes. Abby remained at the table, pouring herself another cup to toy with, while avoiding looking at him.

"Abby..." He reached out to cover one of her hands with his, but she snatched it back as if burnt.

"No. It was a mistake. You're not him, you're someone else. It's hard enough because you are him, for all intents and purposes, but I won't take advantage of that."

"Take advantage!" He whispered back, leaning forward to he could see her down bent face. "I don't think there was any taking advantage on either side...I've wanted to kiss you all week, and you've wanted me to, whatever you say now."

"That's not true," Abby lied, refusing to let him have the upper hand. "You kissed me, I didn't ask you to. My Stephen is lost somewhere on the other side of the anomaly and I haven't wanted to kiss you at all...I wanted to kiss him!"

"Harsh, Abby...you can say what you want, but your lips sing a different tune. I would take bets that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between us, how ever many times you tell yourself differently."

"That's despicable You're completely different to Stephen, and it was wrong of me to think otherwise."

"Keep telling yourself that Abby, and you might convince yourself, but you'll never convince me."

They glared at each other across the table, Abby having a hard time holding on to her anger. Why was she fighting so hard? Was it just because she felt she was betraying her Stephen? Was it because she felt it was too soon? Something of her conflict must have shown because Stephens expression softened and he smiled ruefully, his lashes sweeping down to hide his triumph.

"Why are we fighting Abby? Neither of us asked to be put in situation, but we have been and if we're to work together..."

"Work...that's impossible now..." Abby interrupted, but Stephen ignored her.

"...work together, we have to accept that for the time being, I am Stephen Hart, and I'm going to occasionally want to kiss you senseless." He finished his statement with a wicked grin, one Abby was unable resist, her own mouth curving up into a smile. He really was completely incorrigible.

"Ignoring how ridiculous that sounds, if we are to work together, then what we just did, can't be repeated. Ever." She emphasized her point with the end of her finger on the table top. "We can't touch, or get too close and especially not kiss. Is that clear?"

Stephen was smiling at her, his eyes glowing, a look she'd never seen on her Stephen's face. It was a look she could easily drown in and get very attached to. Closing her eyes briefly to shut it out, she pressed her lips together and tried to look stern. "Stephen..."

"Are you sure about that last bit?"

Abby frowned at him. "Which bit?"

"This bit..." Without once breaking eye contact, he rose to his feet and made his way around the table to where she sat. Leaning one hand on the table, he hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face up. Sure now of her attention, he leant down and covered her mouth with his own.

It was like surfacing after diving deep into a swimming pool, she just had to give in to the urge to open herself up to him, her lips parting eagerly beneath his. He was a drug and she was a complete addict, her body cleaving to his, the kiss taking on a life of its own, all her resolve vanishing in the heat of the contact between them. Time slowed down to a crawl, the universe reduced in size to just the two of them, all sound drowned out by the thump of her heart in her ears, the sensation of his mouth on hers.

Stephen felt like he'd finally come home, her mouth soft and yielding beneath his, her hands clutching at his sides, hanging on for dear life as they moved and meshed together. Everything beyond the fusion of their lips faded away, Abby's faint moan of want making his blood churn as her perfect little body fitted itself to his, as if made for him.

Connor had finished his inspection of the flat and returned to the kitchen to find Abby clinched in a close embrace with Stephen, the two of them oblivious to anything around them. He thought about coughing loudly to get their attention, then decided against it, turning sharply on his heel and heading back to the living room. He'd spotted the big screen tv and wondered how many channels it had available to browse. If he was lucky, he'd be undisturbed to play for some little while.

It was like some madness had suddenly infused her body, his challenging kiss turning into a frenzied need to feel skin on skin, her fingers burrowing under Stephen's soft shirt, kneading the hard contours of his ribs and chest. She dragged her nails over a nipple and his groan against her mouth made her flush hotly. Dragging her mouth from his she stared wildly into his face, her own rosy, her eyes as bright as diamonds.

"What are we doing?" she panted, her hands flat against his skin, still under the shirt so that she felt the pounding of his heart under her finger tips. Stephen licked his lips, a deliberately provocative gesture that drew her gaze and made her do the same.

"We could continue this somewhere less...public," he suggested, cocking an impudent eyebrow and glancing towards the sounds of some sporting event blaring out from the television in the next room. "I think Connor has settled in for the afternoon." His breathing was as hectic as hers, his hands busy with one running up and down her arm while the other cradled her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. Abby leant into his hand and chuckled softly.

"I should have warned you, Connor is a complete geek and loves nothing better than a big screen television to play with. I'm surprised he hasn't found a science fiction marathon somewhere to watch!"

Even as she said it, the strains of a familiar theme tune suddenly cut into the roar of the crowd, both Stephen and Abby hard pressed not to laugh out loud.

"Speak of the devil...amazing, but I think I recognise that as the theme tune of a show they had playing last year...Fargate, in my world. I think it was called that...not my usual choice of programming."

"We call it Starscape here...it was popular a few years ago." They listened to the sounds of lasers and explosions and the occasional whoop from Connor as he joined in. They shared a smile, Stephen pulling Abby in for a tender hug, his hand now cradling the back of her head, while she rested her cheek against his chest and listened to his heart beat. The tea grew cold as they stayed that way, holding each other but not reigniting the flash point between them.

"What are we going to do?" Abby asked, not moving from her place cradled against him.

"We could sneak down the hall and check out the bedroom?" Stephen suggested, knowing her answer before the small fist hit him between the shoulder blades. "Or not. We could leave Connor here and go out for a meal somewhere?" He waited for her to speak, but quickly added, "or we could take him with us...just a night out together, the three of us...friends?"

Abby lifted her head to look up at him, a sweet smile curling her lips. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Let's see...the three of us around a table, me playing footsy with you under the table, while Connor details the finer points of the outcome in a battle between his two most favourite comic characters? What's to mind? You choose...pizza or Chinese?"

"What about Mexican? I know this wicked little restaurant..."

"Perfect...I can tell you all about the time I was chased out of Mexico by bandits, after Nick got us shot at, for trespassing on sacred burial grounds to look for bones."

"Shot! Where?" Abby pulled back and looked him up and down as if searching for scars.

Stephen grinned and held her at a distance with his hands on her shoulders. "Let's just say, where I got shot doesn't get to see the sun very often." Her peal of laughter was loud enough to draw Connor away from the television and back into the kitchen. When he heard they were going out for Mexican, he hurriedly thumbed the remote and the apartment went blessedly silent.

"I'm starving, hurry up you two...eating time's a'wasting."

Abby trotted off to use the bathroom, while Stephen cleared up the remains of the tea.

"You like Abby...a lot...I can tell." Connor ventured, biting his lip as he waited for Stephen to answer.

"You noticed." Stephen replied cautiously, not sure where Connor was going with the conversation.

"Hard not to. Practically chucked a bucket of cold water over the two of you."

"Is that a problem?" Stephen leant against the sink bench and folded his arms across his chest.

"Lord no!" Connor exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him as if to fend Stephen off. "Just...well, you've hardly known each other more than a few days. It just seems...kinda...sudden."

"I suppose so. How long does it take you to know you fancy someone?"

"Well if your talking about fictional women...usually in the first episode, for a series, or first hour for a film."

"What about your girlfriend?" Stephen asked, relaxing his stance and picking up the truck keys. He had thought that maybe Connor was trying to test him, because the younger man thought he had a prior claim to Abby's affections, having known her longer.

"Ah...well, it's more like a pen pal, but I already told you...ah, not you...er him that."

"You're right Connor, I do like Abby...a lot, and I intend to pursue the relationship."

"Oh...okay. Good luck then." Connor suddenly seemed to realise that it was hardly his business what Stephen or Abby did, and he turned away to contemplate the cupboard fronts. Abby returned looking a little less rumpled from her ravishing.

"Ready to go?" she asked brightly, taking the bunch of keys that Stephen held out to her, the apartment key still on the ring.

They filed out the front door, Stephen snagging Abby just before she followed Connor through. He spun her around and kissed her, not giving her time to respond, but leaving her in no doubt that he intended to continue their interrupted embrace, when they were alone. "Something to keep you going," he told her, turning her around and steering her through the doorway, her own legs too wobbly to do much more than support her, as they made to catch up to Connor.

Good Lord, if that was an appetizer of what was to come, she couldn't wait to get to dessert.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	11. Warm Light pt 2

19/7/07

Title: Warm Light pt 2

Author: Squeezynz

We now return you to Nick Cutter and Claudia Marsden (nee Brown), and see what these two kids are up to.

**Author's Note:** Just to recap – and keep myself on the right track – in this part of the story, Nick and Stephen are from a world where they were missing for more than six months, in a time line where Nick had never met Claudia, Abby or Connor and where Stephen never slept with Helen.

Also, Abby and Connor had never met Claudia either ( "Who's Claudia?" ep:six/season one)

Claudia, in this time line, works for the Home Office, but not in any capacity that brings her into the anomaly project – until now.

She has collected Nick from Hospital, on orders from Sir James Lester, but knows little about Professor Cutter except his credentials. Nick has heard what little is known about her from Abby, during his time recovering in hospital, so knows that in Abby's time line, the Nick that returned was not the right Nick, but got all agitated because a Claudia Brown wasn't there any more, just before being sucked into the anomaly and lost, along with Abby's Stephen. Boy, this is getting convoluted. And to think, I only wanted to write a good Stabby fic – I never was any good at 'short stories'...sigh...now read on.

Oh, and I've taken it for granted that the boys have been put on the payroll of the Home Office, as they don't have access to any other means of support, and for expediencies sake, they are both occupying their counterparts' places of residence – confused? You should be – I am (groan)

Sure is fun though.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The sleek, black, Home Office car drew up outside an elegant stretch of brick terrace housing. Nick peered up at the dormer windows, white painted lower half and black iron work bordering the pavement, and wondered how it was, that despite living in different time lines, he and his missing counterpart had similar tastes in housing. Of course, it was probably something to do with being married to the same, well heeled woman that dictated the location. Helen always did want only the best.

He stretched after the short car ride, his muscles feeling weak after the spell in hospital and he looked forward to getting back into running again. It had become a pattern between him and Stephen, the younger man including Nick in his circuit, together running between ten and twenty miles a week to keep fit. It had stood them both in good stead when they became lost on the wrong side of the anomaly, Nick believing that it was only their level of fitness that tipped the balance in their favour and kept them alive for so long.

"Are you alright?" The purely feminine tone washed over him like honey. Claudia Marsden was as easy on the ear, as she was on the eye. No wonder the other Nick Cutter was so eager to find out where she'd gone, before disappearing himself. He idly wondered if his counterpart had survived to make it back to another time line, and maybe find his Claudia after all.

"Fine, just a little creaky." He grimaced as a joint popped, sounding loud in the quiet street. Claudia was fishing in her handbag for something, giving a satisfied "ah" when she found what she was looking for.

"It's a little unusual to allow you to enter the other Nick Cutter's residence, but as it is empty, with both the Professor and his wife no longer living here, it was deemed best to let you use it. Of course, it is expected that you will make few changes while you inhabit the house, and you don't have access to the Professors assets, or right to sell off his goods..."

"For God's sake...can we just go inside?" Nick cut her off in exasperation. "We can discuss all of that over a drink. I'm sure the other Nick had the good sense to keep a well stocked cupboard."

Claudia glared at him then flounced up the stairs to the front door, her hips swinging in delightful outrage, while Nick just hung back and enjoyed the view. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to hold a conversation with an attractive woman, and hoped he hadn't been too rude, but he really couldn't stand out in the street much longer without falling over, so cutting her off in mid-speech had seemed the only alternative. He followed her at a more sedate pace, taking full advantage of the cool metal railing to haul himself up the few steps and through the white painted front door with it's brass knocker. Inside it appeared very dark after the bright sunshine, his eyes blinking to become accustomed to the gloom. Claudia had vanished into one of the back rooms, so he made his way into the first room on the right, which turned out to be a spacious and sunny front parlour, with high ceilings,tasteful furniture and ornate plaster fireplace. Heading straight for the most comfortable chair in the room, he sank thankfully into it, thinking that he might have to reduce his running distance by several tens of miles until he built up his stamina again. At the moment he'd be lucky to make it to the end of the street, let alone a full mile. He heard the tap of heels on the polished floor and closed his eyes, tilting his head back just as Claudia appeared in the doorway.

She paused and reconsidered what she'd been about to say. Professor Cutter was sitting in a deep, comfortable looking armchair, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. He'd looked drawn and older than his forty something years during the ride in the car. Looking at him now, his sandy hair appeared windblown and his face, in repose looked somehow younger with the lines around his mouth and eyes not so pronounced. She had never considered herself attracted to blond haired men in the past, her ex-husband falling into the category of tall, dark and untrustworthy. She wasn't sure whether it was his intensely blue eyes with their irrepressible twinkle, or the sheer forceful personality that shone out of his face, whenever he spoke about his line of work and, of course, the whole anomaly project.

She had heard nothing about the project until she had the call to present herself to Sir James Lester in the Home Office HQ. Until then, she'd been a media coordinator in the publicity department, a job she would have expected to be in the front line to hear about dinosaurs loose on English soil. It had come as something of a shock to learn that Sir James wasn't pulling her leg, when he related the bare bones of the project, showing her photographs and other irrefutable evidence that what he said was the truth. Then there was the case of the two men, missing for only three months, but appearing with all the signs of missing far longer than that, if the medical reports were to be believed. Of course the final bomb shell was still causing her a few headaches. That the two men were not even from the same time as everyone else on the planet, that they, in fact, were not Nick Cutter and Stephen Hart of three months ago, but two entirely different men who only looked like the original pair, while in all other respects were imposter's, a term she used to describe them, but didn't say out loud.

She had read the thin personal file on the man and couldn't help wondering what had happened to his wife. According to what was known, she had been investigating along the same lines as her husband - identifying and explaining unusual fossil finds and placing them within the known evolutionary record of the Earth – then she'd disappeared, leaving behind a wealth of journals but little evidence of what had befallen her. There'd been an investigation after she was reported missing, and even now, the file could only conjecture how she'd managed to remain hidden for eight years before making herself known once more. It all came down to the anomalies.

The shrill whistle of the kettle pulled her back to the kitchen, leaving the Professor to doze while she made them both something to drink. The service had made sure the kitchen was well stocked, also the house had been aired and cleaned in readiness for it's new occupant. Although, really, it was not a new occupant but the return of the old – sort of. She fiddled with the coffee and mugs and shook her head at the whole conundrum. Sir James hadn't told her exactly what she was expected to do for Professor Cutter, his instructions vague, but she supposed that she was expected to give him help assimilating into his new life and she was quite curious to hear how it differed from his old life. Her own had been on hold ever since the divorce, the hurt of her ex-husbands betrayal still making her unwilling to tackle another relationship, her nickname Ice Queen, by her work colleague's was cruel, but accurate.

Nick hadn't moved so she placed the small tray on the table in front of him, before reaching out and shaking his knee to wake him.

"I've made us coffee Professor." Picking up her own mug, she added a generous helping of sugar, but no milk, preferring it black. Nick blinked then dry-washed his face before hunching forward and servicing his own mug of black gold. He did the opposite to her, pouring in milk but leaving the sugar alone, before sitting back in his seat and contemplating Claudia over the rim.

"So, Mrs. Marsden...or can I call you Claudia?"

"If you prefer Professor..."

"Please, can we drop the Professor? Makes me feel sound like some old fossil. Nick or Cutter are more than enough."

"As you wish." She saw him raise his eyebrows and quickly replied to his silent question. "Claudia will do fine." Unaccountably, she felt a blush heat her cheeks. What was it about this man that made her want to behave like an adolescent with her first crush? Suppressing the smile that was threatening to over set her professional demeanor, Claudia sipped at her coffee and avoided looking at him. They sat in companionably silence then Nick leant forward and placed his empty cup on the coffee table.

"So Claudia...what do you know about me? Or should I say, about the man this world knows as Nick Cutter."

Sitting forward and carefully placing her mug on the tray, Claudia pressed her hands together before answering. "He's a lecturer at the Central Metropolitan University, currently researching unusual fossil remains along with his research partner Stephen Hart. I know that your wife, Helen Cutter had been missing, presumed dead, for the past eight years, until recently when it was discovered she was still living, but has since disappeared again."

Nick waited for her to continue, but when she didn't he stared at her in some surprise. "And that's all you know? I thought you Home Office people had dossiers on everybody, their life story computerised and compartmentalised down to the tiniest bit of trivia." He sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "Or is it that they didn't bother to brief you fully on your assignment?"

"I don't know what you are inferring Prof...Nick. I was asked to help you settle in, given the unusual nature of your situation..."

"And are you usually assigned to baby sit people, in your line of work – whatever that is?" Nick knew he was being antagonistic, but couldn't help himself. He wanted to crack that carefully guarded veneer and see the woman beneath. Right now, that woman was giving him the full force of her wonderful eyes with a glare that would cheerfully reduce him to a cinder, given half a chance.

"It's not part of my usual work load." Claudia bit out, deliberately relaxing her hands and wiping them down her skirt. "I'm a media coordinator for the Home Office, and before this morning, I hadn't known that you, or your counterpart existed." There, she thought, that should put Nick Cutter in his place.

"Media coordinator," Nick mused, still regarding her over his steepled fingers. "So you're one of the people that make the gutter press look snow white, suppressing the truth to protect the government and hide its corruption."

"Well, they certainly didn't tell me you were a anarchist," Claudia retorted, her eyes flashing. "Considering you're now on the Home Office payroll, does that make you one of their hatchet men? Today was the first time I'd ever heard about the whole anomaly project and found out about your jaunts into the past. Who's the one suppressing the truth now?"

"If I'd had my way, the whole world would have been told about them, but then we'd have a panic on our hands every time one of them appeared, as well as mass hysteria from the media with a potential disaster if something big and nasty decided to come through and start eating people." He paused and sat up. "But then, according to Abby, that's already happened and still no body knows about it. I have to take my hat off to your department – you're doing a sterling job!"

The air fairly crackled with tension, Claudia breathing so deeply that her blouse was straining to contain her indignation. Nick was also looking agitated, his blue eyes glittering and his sandy brows drawn down in a frown.

Abruptly his face relaxed and he started to laugh, the initial chuckle turning into a full belly laugh as he fell back into his chair and covered his eyes with one hand while clutching his ribs with the other. The laughter was infectious and soon Claudia was unable to stop herself joining in, bending almost double, her hair falling forward as she laughed at the absurdity of their situation. Nick recovered first.

"What the hell are we arguing about? Here am I, barely recovered from six months surviving a primeval hell hole, and ripping into you as if it's all your fault. I'm sorry Claudia, truly I am, I apologise." Leaning forward, he held out his hand to her, Claudia only hesitating a second before extending her slim hand to take his. His fingers closed around hers and held, the laughter dying out of both their eyes, to be replaced with something else, something that she was at a loss to explain. Suddenly realising that she was still holding his hand, she let go, and sat back, lifting a hand to tuck some hair behind her ear in a self-conscious gesture.

"No need to apologise, you've been through a great deal...Nick..and this must all be a great trial to you. If you'd prefer I left..."

"NO!...Please. You're not to know I have issues with the Lester, Home Office thing. It all stems from their handling of this whole anomaly business."

"Well, it's certainly been kept well out of the media spotlight. I'm sorry to say that even your disappearance didn't raise a blip on the radar, as far as my department is concerned."

"Oh I'm sure Lester did his job well. I called him a government hatchet man once, and he didn't try to deny it. I imagine if Lester wants something to go away, it does – forever."

They let the moment stretch, then Claudia rose to her feet, Nick quickly following.

"I should really leave you alone to get settled in. I'm supposed to be staying at a local hotel, so you can call me, if you need me..." she didn't look at him, unable to explain the feeling of loss at the thought of walking out the door and leaving him alone.

"Please stay," he had his hand on her arm before she could move, the heat from the contact felt all through her body. Startled, she looked up and found herself unable to do more than stare back at him. "Look," Nick continued, "the least you can do is give me the guided tour. There'll be time enough for you to find your hotel, it's not even dark yet."

He was gabbling but couldn't stop himself. He had to make her stay, there was so much he wanted to know. Not about the world outside, as much as about her, about why her eyes held a touch of sadness, why she tried so hard not to smile and reveal any weakness. Why she tried so hard to be a professional in the face of a situation that no amount of training could prepare her for.

"Alright. A guided tour." Claudia waited for him to release her before walking to the door of the sitting room. "But, as this is my first time here, it'll be the blind leading the blind."

"Then lead on and we'll discover how my other half lived together."

Nick smiled, and Claudia smiled back, shyly. He really was quite the most extraordinary man she'd ever met.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

The tour of the house revealed several things. One of which was a perfectly nice guest room, with en suite, that Nick somehow managed to persuade Claudia to use, instead of going to a hotel. She wasn't entirely sure how it had come about, but her bags now sat on the bed waiting to be unpacked and she could hear Nick banging about in the kitchen, whipping something together, as he put it.

One of the other things the tour revealed was the shortage of personal touches you'd expect in a house of this size and evident wealth. It was like they were in a very expensively equipped hotel, with only a few items scattered about to identify it with Nick Cutter or his wife or anyone else, for that matter. There were no photo's or family portraits, no personal nick-knacks or even momento's of trips past. Claudia could only assume that the Nick Cutter of her own time had been a man who preferred to live in the moment, rather than accumulate detritus of the past, an odd dichotomy given his occupation. But maybe that was the point. Nick was so involved with everything to do with the past, he couldn't be bothered with his own. She imagined he must be more comfortable with the history of the earth, than with his. Of course, the Nick of her time had had to contend with his wife going missing for eight years, then turning up unexpectedly. The Nick here now had never lost his wife to an anomaly, never gone through the agony of wondering for years where she was, whether she was still alive. She wondered what his house looked like. Somehow she knew it would be a far more welcoming place than the house they now stood in.

It was getting dark outside and interesting smells were wafting up the stairs, reminding her how long it had been since she'd had a home cooked meal. Working late at the office, and snatching ready cooked meals out of the freezer hardly allowed much time or interest in cooking. That area of her domestic life had been her ex-husbands province. Snapping herself out of her memories, she ducked into the en-suite and flicked a brush over her hair, smearing just a touch of lip gloss on her mouth before hurrying down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Nick was sporting an absurdly frilly apron over his shirt and slacks, his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal brawny arms and his feet bare against the slate floor. He looked oddly endearing and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped. Nick was lifting a spoon out of a pot to test it, and looked over his shoulder at her, his expression rueful.

"What can I say? It's better than getting splattered by gravy, but only just." He turned back to the pot as Claudia sidled up next to him to sniff.

"It smells heavenly, what is it?"

"Just something I threw together. Whoever filled the fridge had an eye to a good cut of lamb." He reached over and handed her a tall glass of wine. "Here, drink this. Rather a nice red."

She sipped the ruby liquid and rolled the flavour around her tongue. It tasted like woodland and brambles and something smoky. Nick was watching her, his eyes intent on her face. Claudia swallowed.

"Nice." She peered into the pot, again assailed by tantalising smells before Nick popped the lid on. "I'm certainly glad you can cook. The most I can manage is bangers and mash."

"I was taught by a master. We had a housekeeper, a Mrs. Cork, wonderful woman. Could whip up anything out of nothing. Helen was never one to cook, and I was more often than not working late or off on a trip somewhere, so Mrs. Cork became very adapt at the instant meal that appeared to have taken hours to cook, but in fact took only minutes to put together. Marvelous woman, a real treasure. I didn't keep her on after Helen and I drifted apart, there was hardly anything to keep her occupied for an hour, let alone a whole day with us both so caught up in our work. Last I heard, she was working for a family with four kids up in the wilds of Scotland somewhere, and having a ball."

He paused to check on another pot containing something green. "After that, I adapted some of her lessons and looked after myself. Helen never came back for long, if at all, and never ate at home when she could find someone to take her out. Usually someone other than me."

Claudia sipped her drink and kept out of the way as Nick moved about the kitchen with an assured air. Before long, he was handing her plates to lay at the table, preferring to use the kitchen rather than the formal dining room. Claudia poured them both another glass of the fine red, while Nick dished up the meal.

"So...Claudia," Nick laid down his fork and picked up his glass, "tell me something about you. I know where you work and for whom, and I know your divorced."

"Then you know pretty much all there is to know," Claudia replied hurriedly, taking a hasty sip of her wine and coughing when it went down the wrong way.

"Hardly. Do you have any kids?" As soon as he asked the question he wanted to kick himself. A shadow passed over Claudia's face and the look of sadness was back in her expressive brown eyes.

"No. Sam...we hadn't been married for long, only three years. What with work and...everything.." she made a dismissive gesture with one hand. "It wasn't on the cards, and just as well, given what happened."

"What did happen?" Nick asked softly. Claudia gave a nervous laugh, glancing at him briefly before lowering her head.

"You don't really want to know..."

"But I do. You look so sad sometimes...maybe talking about it will help."

"But you're a stranger, I couldn't..."

"Sometimes telling a stranger is better than telling someone who knows you. Less conflict of histories, so to speak." Nick was pushing, he knew, but something was urging him on. He watched Claudia chew her lip as she decided what to do, the habit making her lips look completely kissable, the thought making him start in surprise at the direction of his focus. The poor girl was about to pour her heart out, not exactly the best time to be thinking of what she'd taste like, or more importantly, feel like in his arms and in his bed. Mentally shaking himself, he pinned what he hoped was a compassionate expression on his face and waited for her to make up her mind.

"You're right. I haven't really spoken about the divorce with anyone..."

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Claudia stared at the gas flames licking at the fake logs in the fireplace. She had consumed far too much wine, mixing the red with white and even downing a glass of single malt when they finally adjourned to the living room. Her voice was croaky from talking for so long, the words pouring out of her as she told of her rocky relationship with her ex-husband, Samuel Marsden. Nick was a terrific listener and didn't try to pontificate, or offer advice or excuses. It was like the flood gates had opened and she talked like she'd never done before, even with her husband. Looking back, she realised that the marriage was doomed from the start, Sam far too demanding, while she was too submissive. Somehow, talking to Nick had cleared up so many things that had been a mystery to her, talking about them finally putting them into perspective.

She was sitting on a large, cushioned two seater with Nick beside her, his arm resting along the back of the sofa behind her head. He was also staring at the fire, lost in thought. She studied his profile and wondered what it was about him that intrigued her so much. Physically, he was the antithesis of what she had always assumed attracted her to men. She liked them dark, he was fair, she liked them cultured and urbane, he was rugged and earthy, his features craggy and worn as you'd expect of a man who spent a great deal of time outdoors fossicking about looking for bones. He suddenly turned to look at her and she realised what it was that fascinated her. It was his eyes, their colour so intensely blue like the sky, the lines around them speaking of humour and kindness, their depth and clarity making her want to dive in and never climb out.

"You have beautiful eyes," she blurted out, the wine and scotch combining to make her bold.

"And you've had one too many tonight," Nick replied, his eyes crinkling in amusement.

"I like your eyes...it's a shame your not my usual type."

"Oh...and what is your usual type?"

"Tall, dark...brooding..."

"I'm taller than you, and don't you know the old adage – blonds have more fun."

"You're laughing at me now," she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, her lashes lowering over her eyes in a sultry look that ignited an ember in the man sitting beside her.

"Keep looking at me like that Claudia, and I won't be able to resist taking advantage."

"Did I mention that I quite like being taken advantage of? Best of British. You know what they call me at work?" She waited for him to shake his head. "The Ice Queen, because I won't go out with any of the plonkers in my division. Do you think I'm an Ice Queen?" She leant her head back against his arm and stared up at him, one elegantly curved eyebrow arched over heavy lidded eyes.

"I think that I'd be less than a gentleman to take advantage of you right now, Claudia. You're a beautiful woman and you've just poured your heart out to me. On top of that, you're half way to being drunk. You may regret that come morning."

"What I regret, Nick Cutter, is having to get this drunk before I can tell a man how I feel about him."

"That's as maybe, Claudia, but anything you say right now is not going to mean a thing, and you know it."

"What if I don't care?" She whispered, leaning forward and planting her lips clumsily on his. For a second he didn't move, just let her press her lips to his without reciprocating, then she pulled back, her eyes shadowed from his rejection. The last thing he wanted was to leave her thinking he didn't care enough even to kiss her, something he'd wanted to do since he first clapped eyes on her. Not allowing her to pull back more than an inch, he leant in and captured her lips hungrily with his own, his arm coming around to hold her in place as they tested and tasted, the embrace deepening with each passing second.

Claudia moaned in pleasure, giving herself up to Nick as he kissed her senseless. He didn't just kiss her, he ravaged her, planting kisses along her jaw before returning to her mouth, his work roughened hands holding her head while he slanted his lips across her in a frenzy of passion. Only when her eager hands cupped him through his trousers, did a cold rush of sanity intrude and make Nick slow down until he was able to pull back. Claudia lay beneath him on the sofa, her hair spread out around her head, her eyes so warm and inviting he felt like he was burning up inside. Removing her hand he held it still by her head, and drew in a steadying breath.

"You're more potent than a crate full of whiskey Claudia Marsden."

"Why did you stop?" Claudia mewed, pouting outrageously and straining to free her pinned hand. "Don't you want to make love to me?" She looked puzzled, and he almost gave in to temptation, but not quite.

"Oh no, young lady. You know perfectly well that making love to you is just what I do want to do. But I'm not going to."

"Why not?" Claudia cried out, anger replacing the passion of a few seconds before. "Am I so damn unattractive you can't bring yourself to shag me?"

Nick shook his head at her colourful language. He should have remembered to be careful what you wish for, now seeing Claudia without the veneer of her office persona, and finding the angry, disappointed woman lurking beneath. He was well aware that it wasn't him she was really angry at, but at a pinch, he would make a convenient substitute.

"Time I put you to bed," he muttered, hoisting himself off the couch and dragging Claudia up with him. She seemed to think that he was taking her to bed for something other than a rest, and tried to kiss him again, but ending up instead draped around him, with Nick taking all of her weight. "I can't carry you sweetheart, so don't pass out on me now."

With difficulty he maneuvered her up the stairs to the guest suite, letting her fall, fully clothed still, on the bed. He pulled back the covers on the far side of the double bed before returning to divest her of her shoes. Claudia was content to just lay there and let him undress her, her hands batting at his when he found the side zip to her skirt stuck, a final tug releasing it after several attempts. Leaving her wearing only her blouse, bra and knickers, he searched her bags for some nightwear, finding a set of soft, satin pj's in a fetching shade of blue to dress her in. Leaving her underwear alone, he put on the pyjamas, ignoring her attempts to wrap her arms, then her legs around him while he wrestled her into the bed.

"You're a difficult woman Claudia...if you weren't so drunk, and I wasn't a gentleman..." he left the rest unsaid, staring down at the woman now tucked up and sleeping peacefully, having passed out at last. He put the light on in the en suite to give her somewhere to head for when she eventually revived and needed the bathroom, before sitting himself on the end of the bed to catch his breath.

Manhandling her had been a form of exquisite torture, her body warm and softly curved in all the right places, his hands itching to explore the exposed, creamy flesh that had been on display. Instead he heaved himself up and left the room, padding bare foot to his own room at the end of the corridor. He'd worry about cleaning up in the morning, but right now he needed sleep in the worst possible way. His exertions finally caught up with him a few minutes later and he was soon fast asleep, not even the wealth of mental images of the woman a few door away, enough to keep him conscious.

He only hoped she wouldn't be mad as hell with him when morning came.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...still along for the ride?? oh good.


	12. Blinding Light

21/9/07

Title: Blinding Light

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note: We now return you to Abby, Stephen and Connor, same time line as the previous chapter, where they've been to the Mexican restaurant, Claudia got drunk and Nick went to bed – alone.

Author's Note2: Been trying to update this chapter to for four days, with no success. Not my fault. Couldn't access the "stories" area to upload the chapter. Hopefully they'll sort it out before I've finished my next chapter. grinds teeth

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"Connor," Abby warned, "If you do that one more time, I'm going to kick you right out into the middle of the road!"

"Sorry, sorry...its the chili sauce, always does that to me. Hey, no pinching!"

Stephen listened to his companions play fighting in the back seat and smiled. The Mariachi Munch House had been close enough for him to easily remember the way back to his apartment. As meals went, it had been fun, with Connor only rolling his eyes once at him and Abby, when Abby mistakenly played footsies with Connor under the table. After much blushing and laughter, the evening progressed in an easy manner, with their table quite possibly the noisiest. He'd had fun entertaining his two younger friends with anecdotes of his time spent touring various animal preserves in Africa with Nick, forever on the quest for new evolutionary evidence.

Since the advent of the anomalies, there'd be few chances to get together a proper dig, having to leave that to other paleontologist to organise, with the associated credit when major finds were discovered. In the last two years, in fact, there'd be little chance of them venturing beyond the English coast, the anomalies appearing with accelerating regularity, spitting out varied species of primeval creatures, all of which had to be categorised, dealt with and returned, preferably without loss of life or leaks to the ever present media. Of course, on top of all that, nine months and his entire life had been lost to the anomaly that drew them in a particularly brutal period sometime during the late Permian, thankfully before the extinction event. Only their combined talent of surviving in harsh conditions and working together as a team saved their skins more times than he cared to remember.

He drew the truck up to the kerb and put it in neutral but keeping the engine running. Abby and Connor suddenly came to the realisation the vehicle wasn't moving and stopped their heated discussion about the relative merits of certain computer software. Apparently Connor had designed a program that would sort all the known paleantological information available into categories, based on whatever sorting standard you care to think of. Connor said the best way to sort was by name, while Abby thought that sorting creatures by their natures, whether vegetarian or carnivorous was more useful.

"We could have used something like that where we were, Connor. Just how extensive it this catalogue of yours?"

"Since he was twelve," said Abby elbowing Connor, who scowled back at her, possibly remembering the last time he'd told that fact to Stephen, and his less than enthusiastic reply.

"Then it must be very useful. Invaluable, I imagine."

"Oh, well, it's come in handy a couple of time," Connor replied, looking pleased that this Stephen hadn't made a scathing comment about his life's work. Maybe he wasn't such a toffee nosed git after all.

Stephen made to get out of the cab and Abby followed, only to have Stephen hold the drivers door open for her. She looked at him with her head canted on one side. "Stephen?"

He understood her confused look, but wouldn't be swayed from his resolve. "It's been a long day, and I've really appreciated all you've done, really...I do."

"But I thought..." Abby stared up at him, "I thought we'd drop Connor off at my place and then we'd come back here."

"I know...and that was the plan,"

"But?" She had her arms crossed over her chest now, looking less than happy.

"Look...nothing had changed, and it's been a fun evening," he ran a hand through his hair, wondering how on earth he was going to make her understand, he hardly did himself. "You've only known me a week, and I started thinking that maybe I've taken advantage of your feelings for your Stephen."

"I thought we'd discussed this already," Abby leant in, her eyes sparking in the dim light from the interior light and street lamp. "I thought it was women who were supposed to blow hot and cold!"

"You've every right to be angry with me..and I can only apologise for jumping on you like I did. I got caught up in the moment..."

"Caught up in the moment?" She almost spluttered, completely confounded by his sudden back peddling. "Did you, or did you not kiss me in the kitchen? Play footsy with me at the restaurant? Lead me on to expect at least a goodnight cup of coffee?"

"Guilty on all counts. But don't you see, I've never met anyone like you before waking up to see you bending over me. You're not at all what I usually...I mean...I'm not...I don't want...dammit, will you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Smiling like that...makes me think you're up to something."

"Well you're pathetic attempts to put me off are not working. I'm going to drop Connor back at the flat, then I'm returning here and I expect you to have the jug on and a mug ready by the time I return."

Forgotten in the back seat, Connor could only look on and wonder how Abby had the balls to take Stephen on, as if he was nothing more than one of her recalcitrant lizards. For his part, Stephen couldn't help but admire her all the more for knowing what she wanted and going for it. He held up his hands in surrender and dropped the car keys, which Abby caught before sliding into the drivers seat and adjusting it. Shutting the door, Stephen leant on the window ledge and grinned at her.

"How do you like your coffee, as you won't let me do the honourable thing?"

"Black and sweet." Abby replied, ducking her head in sudden shyness before shifting the truck into gear. "I'll be back in thirty minutes, give or take."

"I'll have the coffee ready for you." He stood back as she pulled away from the kerb and headed off down the street, watching the rear lights until she turned a corner, and out of sight. Shaking his head, he headed inside and up to the apartment. Whatever they had, or for however long it latest, it wasn't going to be dull, that was for sure.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz

Abby didn't bother to knock, the front door already ajar. She dropped her overnight bag on the floor and kicked off her Chux before padding across the floor in her socks.

"Stephen?"

Surprised when he didn't answer, but not unduly worried, she entered the kitchen, instantly spotting the two mugs set out on the kitchen bench. Stephen's leather jacket was slung over the back of one of the chairs and she smiled, thinking how well it set off his shoulders.

"Stephen?" She called again, frowning when she touched the jug and found it cold. She wandered into the living room and stopped dead when someone pressed the muzzle of a gun into her neck.

"Miss Maitland, how kind of you to join us, do come in and sit down." The deep voice was one she didn't recognise, but the insistent press of the gun barrel wasn't something she was about to argue with. She sat in the chair the gun directed her to, only when she was seated did her assailant show himself.

"Who are you? And where is Stephen?" she asked, unable to control the quaver in her voice.

"Who I am is not important, and young Stephen will be joining us shortly. He's currently helping a colleague of mine with some information."

Abby stared up at him, her mind already trying to memorise any detail that would help the police find the man again. Unfortunately his features were unremarkable, as were his clothes, only the gun making him anything but ordinary. A loud thump from elsewhere in the apartment made her jump and twist around in the chair, the man with the gun not moving or reacting.

"What do you want?" Abby asked, another thump coming from nearby, this time accompanied by a faint sound that she was hard pressed to identify. "I don't have any money...neither does Stephen."

The man glanced around at the living room, a smile playing around his thin lips. "We're not interested in money Miss Maitland...only information."

"About what? Stephen can't help you, he's only just come out of hospital, for God's sake."

"And just why was he in hospital?" the man asked, his eyes like cold stones as he waited for her answer. Abby swallowed and pressed her lips together, another thump drawing her attention to the doorway leading to the bedroom hallway. They both heard a scuffle in the hallway seconds before Stephen appeared, his body shoved from behind, propelling him into the room where he fell face first on the thick rug. Abby leapt to her feet with a cry of dismay, only to be pushed back into her chair by the man with the gun. Stephen was trying to get to his knees, one arm wrapped around his ribs, his head lowered. Even as he managed to draw his knees up a burly man appeared in the doorway and aimed a vicious kick at the prostrate man's body, Stephen rolling with the kick and curling up to protect himself, unable to prevent a cry of pain as he absorbed the blow.

Abby could see that Stephen had been beaten, the noises from before now explained in painful detail. Enraged, she once more got to her feet, the man with the gun reaching for her only to snatch at air as Abby ducked his arm and threw herself across the floor to where Stephen lay. The burly man had his foot pulled back for another kick but Abby put herself between him and Stephen, glaring daggers at the man and daring him to try to kick again. A glance between the burly man and the man with the gun was enough to halt the beating, leaving Abby to tend to a bloody and battered Stephen.

"Oh my God, what have they done...oh Stephen..." She moaned, feeling tears threatening as the extent of his injuries became clearer. Blood trickled from a split lip and one eye was already swelling, nearly closed. Stephen coughed, a spray of blood splattering Abby's t-shirt, his grimace of agony telling of possible broken ribs, if not a puncture lung. She cradled his head, smoothing his hair off his face and wiping at the blood from the cuts welling along his jaw and cheek bones. Another cough had him curling into a ball of pain, more blood spraying over her jeans as she tried to move him into a more comfortable position.

The two men were having a low voiced conference on the other side of the room, Abby too absorbed by the drama in her lap to pay heed to what they were saying.

"He needs to get to a doctor, for God's sake..." she looked up at the men, who had returned to stand over her and Stephen. With her wide eyes swimming with tears, she made a pathetic sight, enough to tug at the hardest heart, but it made no impression on them.

"It seems your young friend has proved less than forthcoming despite our...persuasion. In that event we'll need to take him with us to continue our...questioning."

"NO! Haven't you done enough? He's only just out of hospital...any more of your questioning and you'll kill him!" Abby pleaded, clutching Stephen to her, in a futile attempt to protect him.

"Don't worry yourself over much, he's much more use to us alive, than dead. If you'd be so kind as to stand clear?" Not giving her a chance, he clasped one gloved hand about her arm and physically lifted her off the floor, Stephen's head hitting the floor with a painful thump. Despite the inequality of their size, Abby fought the man like a tiger, until a brutal backhand sent her spinning into darkness, the floor rushing up to meet her.

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The ringing of a phone woke Nick from a deep, dreamless sleep. He groped on the bedside table and knocked the cell phone onto the carpet. Cursing, he snapped on the bedside light and fumbled for the phone.

"Cutter."

He listened to the voice on the other end while sitting on the side of the bed, his eyes shut and a growing frown knotting his brows.

"You're sure of this?" He listened for a long moment. "What do you want me to do?"

Again he listened, the caller signing off abruptly and leaving him holding only a dial tone to his ear. Shutting the cover, he tossed the phone onto the bed and covered his face with his hands. Light was bleeding around the edges of the thick curtaining, telling him that morning was well advanced. Getting to his feet he padded across the thick carpeting and flung the curtains wide, squinting at the sunlight pouring in. The urgent honk of a car horn, and the simultaneous ringing of the cell phone, drew his gaze first to the black car parked behind Claudia's, outside the house, then back to the bed. He snatched up the phone and flipped it open.

"Cutter...any news?" While he listened he padded into the adjoining bathroom and relieved himself, the phone still stuck to his ear. With it jammed between his shoulder and his ear, he managed to wash his hands and struggle into a shirt before pulling on a pair of trousers.

"I've seen the car down below, I'll be down in ten." He answered shortly before snapping the phone shut once more. Hastily gathering up his jacket and wallet, shoes and socks, he jogged down the hall to the guest suite. He didn't bother to knock but barreled in, shrugging his jacket on as he did.

"Claudia...wake up, we have to be leaving here right away."

The lump under the covers only groaned and turned over, ignoring his urgent demands. Striding over to the window, he flung back the curtains to allow the light to stream in. Then he approached the bed and threw the covers off the woman curled up under them.

"Get up...now. There's an emergency and we have to go!"

"What sort of emergency? Unless the house if burning down, I'd like to sleep please!"

"Abby and Stephen have been kidnapped, and there's evidence one or both were hurt in the process."

This got her attention, Claudia sitting up and squinting in the bright sunlight. "What are you talking about?"

Nick had been rummaging in the en suite and appeared with a glass and several white pills in the palm of his hand. "Here, take these, you'll need them. Get dressed quickly, there's a car waiting downstairs, and every minute could count." Then he was gone, leaving Claudia to gape at the pills in her hand before tossing them in her mouth and downing the glass of water, hoping that in the meantime the top of her head didn't blow right off.

The ten minutes hadn't expired when Claudia descended the stairs, accepting the two slices of toast that Nick thrust into her hand before propelling her out the front door and down the steps to the car idling beside the kerb. Before they even got the door closed, the car was pulling out and they were speeding across the city towards the airport.

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"The emergency call was placed by a neighbour of Harts, a Mrs. Richards across the hall. She was returning from an evening out and saw Stephen and Abby bundled into a dark van parked outside the residence. They didn't see her, which is fortunate as she was able to report the license of the vehicle and it's make, model and a description of the men. She also reported that Stephen was barely able to walk, and that Abby was slung over one of the mens shoulders, apparently unconscious." Sir James paused in his reading of the police report when Nick slammed his fish onto the surface of the table, then flung himself away to stand near the windows, staring out into the blackness.

"Dammit, who are these men and what do they want with them?"

Sir James cleared his throat and continued as if Nick hadn't spoken. "Mrs. Richards called the police on her cell and was able to give them a key to the apartment when they arrived. There was some evidence of violence inside, along with blood in the bedroom and living room. We had our forensics' team check the blood and it was all Stephen's." He paused again, shaking the papers and glancing down at the photo's spread over the tables' surface. They showed various views of the rooms mentioned, as well as screen caps of the security camera footage from the CCTV positioned outside, in the car park. "There is no evidence of anything taken other than Abby and Stephen, and no note left demanding a ransom. We are running what we have and checking the video footage against known felons, but at this time we have no leads as to who has taken them, or why."

"The van?" Claudia asked, clasping her hands together to still their trembling. "Do they know who it belongs to?"

"The van plates were registered to a woman in Brixton, reported stolen a month ago. We assume the van is likewise. Without some sort of communication from the kidnappers, we're at a standstill."

"How the hell has this happened?" Nick spun around and glared at Lester. "What could they possibly want from them?"

"If we are able to identify any of the attackers, we might get a lead to answer those questions, but at this time..." Lester shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. Claudia had reached across and pulled some of the photos towards her, scanning them intently. In one of the photos there was a clear image of the face of one of the men as he opened the van door and beckoned his accomplis forward. She stared at the face, something nagging at her about it.

"I think I've seen this man before..." she held the photo between her hands and frowned at it. Lester was sitting forward, his attention focused on her.

"Where?"

Claudia chewed her lip and racked her brains. The headache wasn't helping but with each passing second she became more sure. "Yes. I have seen this man before...I need to go to my department."

"Well, anything you can add can only help," Lester waved his hand to chivvy her away, Nick following her as Claudia trotted out of the room, her frown still in place.

Half an hour later, all three were in front of a large display screen, images scrolling past at a rate too fast to be seen clearly.

"There...I knew I'd seen him before..." Claudia toggled the screen and a single image coalesced. It was a crowd scene at some political rally. She manipulated at button and the image zoomed in and focused on the man in question. She then brought up the image from the CCTV and sat them side by side. "It's definitely him." She announced triumphantly.

"If not, it's his damn twin," Nick muttered, peering at the man. "What was this rally about?"

Claudia looked at her database. "It was a Greenpeace march held by the students at the CMU in two thousand and five." She toggled another switch, and zoomed in on another part of the photo. This time they could clearly make out Stephen Hart standing among the students, and beside him Nick Cutter. They appeared to be, not so much taking part, as making their way through the crowd to reach the other side. The man Claudia had highlighted was several feet behind them, but also appeared to be pushing his way through the students, following the other two.

"He's following us," Nick observed. "...er them. Our counterparts in this world. Did they ever report they were under surveillance?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Lester replied, his expression thoughtful. "I think I need to make some calls and see if any other departments have been keeping tabs on us without me knowing."

"Surely if it was another department, they wouldn't need to kidnap them?" Claudia asked.

"You and your bloody spies!" Nick exploded, "it doesn't matter what time you come from, there's always a bloody government department ready to stick it's nose in. If they've been harmed...!" Nick threat hung in the air, nobody taking it seriously, but all thinking along similar lines. Sir James merely raised an eyebrow and left the room to make his calls. Nick turned back and stared at the screen, squinting at the images. "So this is what you do? Spy on people?"

"No, Nick...we do gather information, and keep a watch on certain groups, but we don't spy, in the way you mean it."

"You'd obviously seen this photo recently..." Nick pointed out, a note of belligerence in his voice.

"It was in your file, so I would recognise you, but I didn't compile that." Claudia tried to defend herself, but Nick just swung away and stormed off and out of the room. Biting her lip, she turned back to the screen. Now that she knew who she was looking for, and in what connection, she tapped furiously on the computer, accessing the archives to cross reference what information she had.

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Abby groaned and clutched at her head, her cheek feeling a hundred times its normal size. The surface beneath her was metal and cold, her hand recoiling from the chill when she tried to sit up. Shivering, she rolled onto her knees and got shakily to her feet. She appeared to be in a narrow, metal box with benches welded down each side. Two square windows at one end were covered in mesh, and let in diffused natural light from outside. She felt woozy and her face throbbed, but still gamely made her way, using a hand against the wall to steady herself, to the window a looked out. She assumed she was in the back of a transport van, the view outside hardly encouraging. Trees surrounded the vehicle on all sides, and rain drizzled down from a grey sky. The ground was covered in leaves and thick with mud, churned up from the passage of recent traffic. Apart from the tyre tracks, there was no sign of life beyond the van, so she tried the internal door handle, her attempts rocking the van as she yanked and pulled to no effect. There was only one result for her efforts, a man's face appearing in the small window in front of her, making her jump back in surprise. She didn't recognise him and backed away from the door when he gestured for her to do so. The door swung open and she took a step forward, only to come up short when a gun appeared in his hand.

"Take it easy miss. I don't want to shoot you, but I have my orders."

"Where are we? Where's Stephen? How long am I to be locked up here, because I'm getting pretty desperate!"

"Desperate?"

"I need to pee!!"

Understanding dawned and the man had the grace to blush at her candid appeal. He didn't look particularly nasty, but the worn fatigues and broad shoulders attested to his ability to keep her subdued if she tried to escape. Plus the gun was rock steady in his hand, his familiarity with the weapon an indication of his history, probably former military.

"You'd better come with me then, miss. But don't bother to try and escape, there's nowhere to run to, and you wouldn't like any of the lads to find you on your own, not in these woods."

"Are we still in England?" Abby asked, jumping down from the van and looking about. Someone must have picked up her shoes where she left them at Stephens, Abby glad to have them on her feet. Further along the dirt road were a number of trucks and vans, some with what looked like satellite dishes on their roof racks and further ahead, a stand of forest green tents with camouflage netting thrown over them. "Is this something to do with the army?"

"The latrine is over here miss," the man replied, not answering any of her queries. He held her by one hand on her upper arm, the other still holding the gun trained on her as if she was a dangerous felon. Abby allowed him to tow her along, her head turning back and forth, trying to make sense of where they were and what was going on. A row of camourflaged port-a-loo's was positioned among a stand of trees and her guard nudged her towards them. "Don't take all day, the door doesn't lock on the inside so I can open it any time, understand."

"Yes." She entered the small cubicle, glad to use the facilities, especially washing her hands and face, the water cool on her hot cheek. On opening the door she found her guard exactly where she left him, his eyes watching her every movement. "Where to now?" She asked.

"Walk on ahead, and don't try anything silly, this isn't a water pistol."

"Never thought it was," Abby muttered, setting off in the direction he indicated, towards the line of tents pitched between the trees. Water dripped steadily from the sky, the semi-leafless trees offering little protection from the continual drizzle. In no time her Chux were soaked and squelched as she tried to avoid the worst of the mud. As they drew closer she started to hear voices calling to each other, a quick glance over her shoulder, telling her the guard was still shadowing her closely, his gun at the ready. Jamming her hands in her jacket pockets, she tramped on until they passed between two of the larger tents, careful not to trip on the guy-ropes. Beyond the tents was a hive of activity, with more men in ex-army gear ferrying boxes and other equipment back and forth. Her step faltered as she stared at the busy campsite, her guard walking past her and once more wrapping a meaty hand about her arm to lead her onwards. They arrived at one of the larger tents, the front of it wide open and showing an elaborate set up of computers and monitoring equipment, all powered by a generator rumbling away in the background, its sound muffled by a fancy housing designed for that purpose. Several men were bent over a table, while others sat at computer screens or wore headsets and monitored communication boards. It was like being in a well set up army base of operations. Except no one was wearing the proper uniforms or showing any insignia of rank.

One looked up from the table and spotted her standing in the entrance, her guard still holding her in one hand. A quick discussion with the other men, and then he was walking towards her, his face neutral.

"Miss Maitland, you're awake at last. Sorry about the rough treatment, apparently you were hysterical and one of my men over reacted." His smoothly urbane voice grated on her nerves and she scowled at him.

"I was not hysterical, your bully boys were too eager to inflict pain!" She shrugged off the guards hand and stepped forward. "What is this all about? Where's Stephen?"

"Ah yes. Stephen Hart. Where did he go missing all those months ago?"

"None of your business. Who are you anyway?"

"None of your business. If you're going to be rude, I'll have you taken back to the van to stew for a few more hours, this time without the benefit of being unconscious." His threat gave her pause. He didn't look particularly dangerous, but something about the glitter in his pale green eyes made a shiver run down her spine. He was only average height and grey haired, but he was trim and carried himself well, with broad shoulders and piercing eyes. She would have placed him as a corporate CEO of a top one hundred company, more at home in the boardroom organising takeovers, than mucking about in the middle of a forest in a tent. She remained mute and instead glanced around him at the computer operators tapping away on their keyboards.

"Seems a little high tech for a camping trip to the forest?"

"I'm sure you realise this is more than a camping trip, Miss Maitland...or can I call you Abby?"

"Miss Maitland is fine," Abby muttered, wishing she was taller to stare him down more effectively. "And you still haven't told me where Stephen is, or what you want with us."

"Not you...him. You are just a bonus. As a reptile expert, as well as your time spent on the anomaly project, you have information and experience we can use. If you behave, you might just get to see young Stephen before the day is out."

As soon as he mentioned the anomalies, Abby went cold all over. "What are you talking about? What's an anomaly?"

"Tsk, Abby. Let's not pretend. We've been keeping a close eye on the project for some time. Even found a way of using the situation to our advantage. Of course, a great deal of the credit has to go to Helen Cutter, but you've all played your part along the way."

"Helen Cutter?" The mere mention of the woman's name was enough to send her heart into her boots. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Have your way, take her back to the van." Abby found herself being pulled way, the man already turning his back on her, dismissing her.

"NO...no please, let me see Stephen...he was coughing up blood from the beating your henchmen gave him...I have to know he's alright...please!" She fought the hard hands holding her arms, her feet slipping on the wet ground. "STEPHEN!"

The man turned back and gave her guard a signal, the hands leaving her arms abruptly, so that she almost fell on her backside in the mud. Righting herself she stepped forward, her hand outstretched in a pleading gesture. "Alright, I know about Helen Cutter, and the anomalies...can I see Stephen now?"

"It is so much easier when you co-operate. Take her to medical, but don't leave them unguarded."

"Yes sir. Come along miss, this way."

Abby allowed him to steer her away from the tent and it's computers and towards another, nondescript awning, this one not open for inspection but with mesh windows along both sides. On the far side was a doorway, which her guard took her through, the inside largely empty of people, with only one man sitting at a desk writing up notes on a laptop. He looked up as they entered.

"A visitor for your patient," her guard told him, the orderly only nodding and pointing his finger at a canvass walled cubicle down one side. He watched them for a moment then returned to the lap top. Her guard held back the canvas door for her to enter, then positioned himself outside.

Abby stood just inside and stared at the man on the cot. Stephen looked as bad as she'd expected him too. His eye was fully swollen shut and looked painful, a string of bruises mottling his face, his bottom lip swollen with the cut at the side marring the skins surface. His one good eye was closed and he didn't stir when Abby pulled over the folding chair and positioned it at his bedside. He was hooked up to a drip in one hand, while the other rested on top of the blanket.

"Oh Stephen..." Feeling a lump choke her, she picked up his free hand and laced her fingers with his. He felt warm and alive and she swallowed hard, blinking away the tears blurring her vision. She sat like that on the cold metal chair for nearly an hour, the orderly coming in to check on Stephen just once, taking his pulse and blood pressure without saying a word to Abby, only making notations on a clipboard before leaving them alone again. Another hour passed, and her stomach rumbled, reminder her that is was many hours since the meal at the Mexican Munch House. She was also thirsty and downed a glass from the water jug left beside the bed. She didn't know if the guard was still outside, and she didn't care. While Stephen lay vulnerable and injured, she wasn't about to abandon him and try to escape. Plus, where would she go? What direction was help in? She had a good knowledge of basic bush craft, and could probably survive for a short time, but she was inadequately dressed for the time of year, and had no provisions, not even to light a fire. She was better of where she was, and could only hope that Nick and Lester were doing all they could to find them.

From what little she'd learned, it appeared that they were prisoners of some militia group, or maybe a terrorist group that knew about the anomalies and were possibly hoping to use them to some advantage. What that might be was beyond her understanding. How anyone could hope to use such an unpredictable phenomenon as the anomalies, for anything other than primitive research into the history of the planet, baffled her. The reference to Helen Cutter also confused her. What had Nick's wife got to do with anything? Was she involved with this rogue group? Was she helping them in some way? And how was this all tied up with what had happened to the Nick and Stephen of this time? With the risk of becoming lost in an alternative reality, what was the point of using them for anything at all, other than palaeontological research. These people deep in the woods, obviously knew a great deal about the anomalies, and Nick and Stephens association with the project, but she wondered for how long they'd known. As the anomalies were unknown to anyone outside the Home Office, how had these people got a hold of the information? Too tired to wonder any more, she lay her head down on her folded arms, on the side of the bed, and drifted into a doze.

When her guard happened to poke his head in to check on her, he saw her blond head resting on the bed, and relaxed his stance. It appeared that the best way to control Abby Maitland, was with the young man in the bed. He hoped, for their sakes, that they saw sense and cooperated. If she could be so easily manipulated by what they did to him, then the same was true in reverse. To get what they wanted out of Hart, they only had to use the girl. It never paid to get too involved with work mates, it left you too vulnerable, a lesson he'd learned early in his career. Letting the canvas drop back into place, he pulled over a chair and settled himself in for a long wait.

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tbc...cue dramatic cliffhanger music


	13. Blinding Light pt 2

24/9/07

Title: Blinding Light2

Author: Squeezynz

**Rating warning**: Just the teeniest bit of smut and naughtiness between adult characters in this chapter, nothing gratuitous or even particularly graphic, at least by my usual standards (you PP fans know what I mean), but I thought I should mention it, in passing like.

**Disclaimer**: I just wanted to let you know that I am about as conversant with quantum physics and electromagnetism as I am with paleontology. Any mistakes made in using terminology or theories in either science are all my own, so feel free to let me know if they are laughable. Do remember this is a work of fiction, and as such there is a plot device called artistic license. Beam me up, Scotty.

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**Author's Note1: **We now, gentle and patient reader, return to the second time line and leave our dynamic heroes wrestling with the problem of who's kidnapped Abby and Stephen in AR1.

We now return you to AR2, and pick up the story after the meeting with Lester at the Home Office.

**Author's Note 2**

Okay, time for a chapter recap: As we now get into some convoluted territory, and you're quite probably scratching your heads and wondering what the heck is what, and which way is up! I've listed the chapters, and a brief synopsis to keep you on track. Now pay attention:- (re: Nick Cutter – see clarification about AR1, 2 and 3 after this time line breakdown.)

Chapter Title Setting Synopsis

Ch.1 – Hard Light – end of ep:6(also known as Alternative Reality One – AR1)AR3Nick returns and asks "where's Claudia?" then AR3Nick and AR1Stephen are sucked into the anomaly. AR1Abby copes.

Ch.2 – Harsh Light - AR1 – AR3Nick and AR1Stephen survive on the other side. AR1Abby visits AR1Stephen's flat.

Ch.3 – Splintered Light -AR2 – AR3Nick and AR1Stephen are returned to the wrong time, where AR2Abby and AR2Connor meet them for the first time and learn about anomalies.

Ch.4 – Diffused Light - AR2 – AR1Stephen settles in with AR2Abby.

Ch.5 – Diffused Light – AR2 – AR3Nick and the AR2Claudia get cozy and very close.

Ch.6 – Diffused Light – AR2 – AR2Connor messes up and gets knocked out.

Ch. 7 – Oblique Light – AR2 – Back to the Stabby, then they dig AR2Connor out of the hole he's in.

Ch. 8 – Neon Light – AR2(first half of Ch.)AR3Nick finds out about AR2Connor's side trip and Lester lays down the law. (second half of Ch.8 is back to AR1)AR2Nick and Stephen are found in AR1 and not in the best of health.

Ch. 9 – Neon Light – AR1 – AR2Nick and Stephen recover and are brought up to date by AR1Abby and Connor, who they meet for the first time. AR1Claudia, unknown to them all (refer to "Where's Claudia?") is introduced.(see clarification for Claudia below)

Ch. 10- Warm Light – AR1 – AR1Abby takes AR2Stephen to his flat, then go Mexican for a meal.

Ch. 11 –Warm Light – AR1 – AR2Nick and AR1Claudia get to know each other and when Claudia gets drunk, Nick sleeps alone.

Ch.12 – Blinding Light – AR1 – AR1Abby and AR2Stephen are kidnapped, AR2Stephen ends up back in a hospital bed.

Okay...clear?? Good. If not...go back to the top of the chapter list and read again.

**Author's Note 3**

Oh, and one more thing to clear up –

**Claudia Brown**. In AR1, she is not known by AR1Stephen, Abby or Connor, but she does work for the Home Office, see Ch.11. In AR2, she again is not known by AR1Stephen, or AR2 Abby and Connor, but she's knows of, although not personally, AR2Nick and Stephen and their work and knows about the anomalies while working for the Home office, see Ch.5. In AR1 she is actually known as Claudia Marsden(nee Brown) and recently divorced from her husband.(Ch.11) AR3 Claudia(see Nick below for clarification) is still in another time line and probably mourning the loss of AR3Nick.(but I'm not going there – way, way too complicated)

**Author's Note 4**

Damn, just thought of something else.

**Nick cutter** – In AR1, the Nick that asks "Where's Claudia?" is not the right Nick Cutter for that time line, he's in fact from AR3(the tv series before the end scene of ep.6). Before that is revealed, he and AR1Stephen Hart are sucked into the anomaly, the fact of him being from another(third) time line doesn't come clear until they are wrongly returned to AR2. So the Nick currently stuck in AR2, is actually from AR3 – where he did know AR3Claudia Brown, and, I'm sure, would like to be returned to her. Of course, the AR2Nick Cutter, didn't know Claudia in either AR2 or AR1, so his relationship with her is brand new, while AR3Nick is technically having an affair with AR2Claudia in lieu of finding his AR3Claudia among the time lines.

I think my brain just went pop.

Okay, that about covers things...I think. Good grief, I'll have to choose an easier story to write, both for me and my readers, next time.

Maybe I should make this a chapter all on its own!! LOL

Now back to AR2 - (author runs away to looks for a nice padded room and handsome young men, in short white coats)

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The cafeteria in the Home Office complex was as stark and corporate as the rest of the building. The only difference, to the myriad of glass walled offices with their sharp metal furniture, was the cascade of greenery outside the windows, a waterfall softening the hard edges of the granite wall providing the backdrop and a pleasant eating area created in its shade. Claudia, Nick, Stephen, Abby and Connor sat around a small glass table and consumed their choice of meals. They were all recovering from the meeting with Sir James Lester, his bollocking over the incident with Connor still fresh in their minds.

Abby picked at her salad then put it aside, eyeing Stephen's sushi with interest. Claudia spooned her yoghurt absently and Nick nibbled at his panini with little enthusiasm. Only Connor seemed to have an unaffected appetite, the young man eagerly stuffing potato wedges, coated in sour cream and sweet chili sauce, into his mouth with obvious relish. Nick eyed him with a somewhat jaundiced expression, even more so when Connor picked up the plate and proceeded to lick it clean. Abby rolled her eyes and kicked the uncouth student under the table. Connor let out a yelp and looked up, only now realising that he was the censure of everyone's gaze.

"What?"

Stephen just shook his head, absently ignoring Abby stealing another piece of his sushi. "Anyone would think you hadn't eaten in a week."

"Well, it's been a long time since breakfast," Connor grinned, silently asking Abby is she wanted the rest of her salad. She sighed and pushed the plate over to him before stealing another piece of the delicious chicken sushi, with Stephen's indulgence. Nick sat back and looked up at the sky, the wall of glass offices towering over them, one of them sure to be hiding Lester. He eventually returned his gaze to his companions around the table.

" What did any one of you see, in regards the set up they have here to deal with the anomalies and what comes through?"

"A lot of men with guns," Abby offered, getting a rap on the knuckles from Stephen's chopsticks, when she tried to steal a third piece of sushi.

"The anomaly had already shut when we got there. All I saw was soldiers, black ops for the most part, some regular army, and like Abby said, a lot of guns. Ryan was there, same as always." Stephen added, dodging Abby's fingers and lifting the last of the sushi to his mouth.

"I just heard a lot of roaring, gun fire and then it went black. After that, nothing." Connor absently rubbed at the still tender lump on his head and looked longingly at the plump banana waiting to be eaten on Claudia's plate. Claudia decided it was time she spoke up.

"I'm afraid that all I can really tell you, from the information we've collated to date, is that the incidence are becoming more frequent, and the anomalies less stable. When they first appeared, they lingered for days, sometimes a week or more. Keeping them under a media blackout was easier, keeping the public away and safe, a matter of man power and timing." She saw Connor's look and tossed him the banana to finish up. "Now, they are popping up anywhere, at anytime and with increasing regularity, but only lasting sometimes hours, more often minutes. They're not confined to woodland or forest tracts anymore either. They've appeared in urban and city environments, making keeping them out of the media and the public eye that much harder. In truth, we're not always sure that the animals that come through are getting returned to their correct times. With what you've been through, the probability is that we are sending them back to the wrong times, the consequences to the time line continuum is, quite frankly, too horrible to contemplate."

For a long moment nobody spoke, both Stephen and Abby staring at Claudia as if she'd grown another head. Connor hadn't been listening, too busy stuffing the last of the banana into his mouth, so he now resembled a chipmunk with bulging cheeks. Nick had already heard most of what Claudia was saying, having seen the evidence himself when she downloaded the data from her laptop to his, the previous night. It still made him shudder to hear the bare facts laid out. Just thinking about the harm being done, by returning the wrong animal to the wrong time, was enough to make him sick.

"Look, basically you're saying you've lost control of the situation," Cutter stated, raising his eyebrows and stared pointedly as her, forcing Claudia to nod her head in reluctant agreement.

"Therefore there has to be a way for us to get advance warning, of when these anomalies are forming."

"That's impossible, they've been entirely random!" Claudia exclaimed.

Cutter was looking at Stephen, the two men exchanging a long look before Cutter spoke again.

"We know they cause a huge spike in the local electromagnetic field, enough to make a compass go wild and would register, most likely, on anything designed to detect fluctuation in the Earths magnetic field. The whole business of tearing a rip in time must use a huge amount of energy. These rips must be detectable, if not before they open, at least at the instant they do. We have to find a way to detect that."

"But we're talking about an area the size of the British Isles. How do you propose we build a detector that big?" Claudia scoffed.

Cutter indicated the sky above their heads. "How many satellites are there orbiting the Earth? I'd take a bet that at least one of them has been collecting and collating information about the magnetic field and that someone, or some organization has all the information we need to map these anomalies. If they are appearing randomly, and for short periods, it's probable you've missed a few. Maybe not all the anomalies are found or used by the creatures on the other side. We need to access that information, wherever it is, or from whomever is collecting it."

"Maybe there is a pattern," Stephen mused, "and we just haven't found it. It could tie in with what you say, and follow a linear path. We were looking into something like that in my time."

"As we were in mine, but we hadn't got very far. The Home Office was more interested in containment and control than understanding or detecting." Cutter added, with a derisory glance up at the glass sided building beside them. "Always so short sighted."

"You really think it's possible?" Abby asked, glancing between the two men. "And if it is, what are the possibilities that an anomaly could be made to stay in one place?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Connor asked, finally taking an active interest in the conversation now that all the food was gone. "I thought we wanted to close them, not open them?"

"We do...but as Claudia pointed out, they are only lasting a few hours, even minutes. If something comes through, it would be nice to be able to poke it back, rather than kill it." Stephen answered.

"But putting it back through can't guarantee the creature will be returned to it's own time," Claudia pointed out. "You are both living proof that the anomalies are unstable and flicker between time and space."

"True, but we're still in a relatively unchanged time and place. We've shifted realities, but not any major time, only a few months, not millions of years." Cutter retorted, sitting back in his chair and steepling his fingers together. "I think the worry over returning animals to the wrong time is not a major issue, despite the fact I'm as horrified as you all our at the possible ramifications of the whole situation. What I think we need to concentrate on is finding a way to detect, and possibly either prevent or prolong, an anomalies appearance."

Everyone looked at everyone else. Nick waited for someone to object, but when no-one did, he turned to Claudia. "Can you use your contacts and find out who is the best person to speak to about this?"

"I'll see what I can do. Am I right in supposing you don't want to bring Lester in on this right now?"

"I think we need to have a few more answers, to questions he likely to ask first. Connor did us no favours with his snooping, and I don't trust Lester to see the bigger picture, unless it's painted in irrefutable brush strokes. He'd only find someway of making the whole mess go away, and I don't want that to happen. We've come too far, to lose any chance of returning to our own time and place. We need..." Nick paused to correct himself, "I need to find out if the possibility of controlling the anomalies is just a dream, or a reality. But first we need to find them."

"I'll get right on it Nick. What will the rest of you do?" Claudia asked.

"I'm supposing we still have access to the University resources, including computer research and an office?" Cutter asked.

"If not, I'll make sure you do," Claudia reassured him.

"Right, then Stephen and I will start there. The less people know about our...return...the better."

"Maybe it would be better if you didn't go back to your old haunt. Because of how long you've been missing, it's possible your office has been cleared out. Let me check and I'll get back to you. I can contact the faculty and ensure that you aren't required to resume your teaching schedule, which would allow you the freedom you need but leave you undisturbed."

"I guess if we do use the CMU, we'll have to be prepared for people we've never met before." Nick murmured.

"That will be a problem wherever you two go."

"We could always use the amnesia defense?" Stephen suggested.

"For both of you?" Abby snorted.

"I'm not going to worry about that now, we'll deal with it as it arises," Nick asserted, getting to his feet.

"Fine. Stephen, you have my number, give me a call if you run into problems. I'll need to come back to your place, Nick, to collect my laptop...and other stuff." Claudia could feel her cheeks heat up, but refused to acknowledge her discomfort. The others didn't seem to notice and she was grateful for that.

Nick and Claudia left the table, leaving behind Stephen with Abby and Connor.

"So what are we going to do?" Connor asked, linking his fingers across his stomach and looking expectantly at Stephen.

"What you normally do." Was the laconic response.

"You don't honestly think I can go back to being just a student after all this excitement. I want to go with you and help with this magnetic field project. I'm a bit of a whizz at physics, I could be a real help." He beamed at Stephen, sure of his answer.

"And you surely don't expect me just to go back to the zoo as if nothings happened? I want to help as well." Abby chimed in.

Stephen held up his hands in surrender. "Look, both of you, I know you want to help, but you also have to be practical. Nick and I are living off the Home Office, you two aren't. You both have lives here, futures that you need to consider. You can't let this whole anomaly thing derail what you had planned, before we arrived on the scene." He tried to ignore the hurt look in Connor's eyes and the disbelief in Abby's. "I'm not saying we won't call on your talents, you're both part of the team." He was floundering and knew it.

"You're damn right we're part of the team. Where you go, I go..and he goes. We can help Stephen, give us the chance to prove that."

"Yes... Abby's right. Let us prove we can contribute...please?" Connor was once more the eager puppy, sitting up and using his best pleading expression to sway Stephen.

"Alright...I give up. We'll start with the CMU and see what we can find on the Internet, until Claudia comes up with more. Okay?"

The two eager faces before him suddenly split into a shared grin, Abby and Connor exchanging a high-five across the table. While Connor punched the air, Abby jumped up and threw her arms about Stephen's neck, almost sending them both crashing to the ground as his chair tilted back.

In her enthusiasm she forgot that the plaza was overlooked by so many offices. After nearly strangling him, she leant back and planted a smacking kiss on his lips, giggling afterwards at his rather shocked and slightly self-conscious expression.

They left the Home Office after checking in with Nick, and arranging for him to pick them up from Abby's place later in the day. Nick had already arranged with Claudia to use the big silver truck for his running around, the vehicle commodious enough to fit them all, and possibly a few primeval creatures along with them. In the meantime, Stephen and the others would do their own initial search, using Connor's laptop and Abby's computer at her flat until Nick joined them. Abby would also use the time to organize leave from her Zoo job. She was confident there wouldn't be too many problems, with thing being quiet at the reptile house and a holiday long overdue to her since she started there.

They had a different driver on the way home, but that didn't stop the spirited discussion on quantum physics and paleomagnetism, the latter touched on by Stephen, the subject part of his research with Nick over the years. By the time they arrived on the street outside Abby's apartment, they were fired up and eager to start their research. Connor settled himself on the couch with his laptop on the coffee table, while Stephen and Abby shared the small desk that acted as her computer corner. The printer whined repeatedly as they printed pertinent data, Stephen jotting down links and names to follow up. The air was full of questions shooting back and forth between the couch and the corner, a lively discussion ensuing about the most accurate source for information about the Earth's past polarity.

A working theory was starting to form, positing that it was possibly the fluctuations, in the Earth's magnetic polarity, in the primeval past were contributing to the formation of the tears, in the fabric of time in the future, and across the boundaries of the connected universes. By the time Nick was pushing the sliding door open, he found them around the dining table, heads down and the air full of raised voices as they argued several points, Stephen and Connor both engaging in a vigorous debate while Abby held her own, shooting down the more preposterous ideas.

"So, children, are we making progress?" Nick's materialisation out of apparent thin air made Abby give a shriek and the boys to jump in surprise.

"Nick!" Stephen pushed back his chair and gathered together a wadge of paper from the table top. "We think we know where to start. Our first stop should be a geomagnetic observatory."

"And do we know where there is one of these observatories?"

Abby piped up, "Eskdalemuir Observatory."

"It's in Scotland, twenty five kilometres outside Lockerbie." Connor added.

"I see. I'll get on to Claudia and see what she can arrange for us. In the meantime, have any of you had lunch?"

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

The rest of the afternoon, while they waited for word from Claudia, was spent making plans for the trip to Scotland. Connor was back on the couch, tapping vigorously at his keyboard, looking up flight times and accommodation in the towns near to the observatory. "How does Langholm sound?" He called out.

"Is it closer than Lockerbie?" Nick asked, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms out. He'd brought the laptop from his counterparts' house and was going through the data from that and Claudia's information with Stephen. Abby was feeding her reptile collection while talking to a friend on her cell about taking care of them for her, while she was away. Both Abby and Connor had quickly convinced Nick that they were quite indispensable, and not about to be left out of the action. Nick, like Stephen had seen little profit in keeping the younger members out, and every advantage in having as many keen minds on the problem as possible.

"Haven't really got a hope in hell of keeping them away now," Stephen grinned at his friend, before glancing over his shoulder at Abby, grimacing when he noticed her feeding a dead rat to her albino python.

"Interesting pets your Abby has," Nick smiled smugly at Stephen, well aware that his one real fear was snakes. Having seen Stephen face down any number of large predators, both on Earth and in its primeval past, it was difficult to reconcile those actions with the younger man's irrational fear of serpents in general.

"Well, she is a reptile specialist. Lizards are more her thing, but she likes snakes too." Stephen turned back to face Nick, unable to prevent a small shiver of revulsion. "Guess nobodies perfect."

"She is...for you." Nick observed, grinning unashamedly before downing the last dregs of his coffee. Claudia was expected at any moment and he felt restless, feeling a need to pace.

"You and Claudia seem to be getting along very well," Stephen decided to deflect attention off his relationship and on to Nick's. "You mentioned seeing Helen. How is she taking your return?"

"Like Helen in any universe deals with things out of her control. Badly. I should have realised it years ago, not wasted so much time mourning her supposed death. She's played me royally for a fool and I let her."

"And Claudia?"

"Ah Claudia..." Nick seemed to drift off into a happy daze, Stephen grinning at his friend, his eyes dancing. It had been years since he'd seen such a look on Nick Cutters face, and he was pleased for him. Sure, they were in quite a pickle with the jumping of time lines and the whole anomaly problem, but it seemed they had both lucked out in finding two women who were not only their equal in intelligence and resourcefulness, but also generous to a fault and seemed to be mutually attracted to himself and Nick, a wonder in itself. A pair of arms looped themselves around his neck and a pair of lips pressed a kiss to his cheek from behind.

"What have you said to send Nick off into a brown study?"

The sensation of Abby's warm breath washing over his ear and neck raised goosebumps all over him, and made his heart jump about with joyful abandon. "Claudia Brown." He explained, pulling Abby around and seating her sideways on his lap. With her arms still around his neck, they were now practically nose to nose.

"This is going to take some getting used to," she stated solemnly, her blue eyes grazing over his features like a caress.

"You okay?" Stephen asked, almost purring as she ran one finger down his cheek and outlined his lips.

"Something Nick said before." She started to worry her bottom lip and he watched her, his breathing starting to get labored.

"What did he say?"

"That he needed to return to his time and place. He almost included you both in that statement, but changed his mind." She suddenly looked away, a suspicious gleam of moisture sheening her eyes. "Do you feel the same way? Do you want to return to your own time and place?"

She shifted on his lap, and he had to bite his lip and place his hands on her waist to stop her moving again. "I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the prospect of returning, if it's even possible. Who's to say that even if we did try to return, that we wouldn't end up in some other reality and in the same predicament. Whatever happens, it's not likely to be overnight, so don't think you're going to be rid of your house guest right away, if ever." He leant in to kiss her, the temptation overwhelming, but Abby leant back, out of his reach.

"I'll tell you this now, Stephen Hart. If you have any plans of going through any anomalies, you had better resign yourself to include me in your plans."

"Abby, you don't know what it's like on the other side. Nick and I only had a taste of the conditions, and they were nearly beyond our ability to survive."

"Are you saying you don't think I'm able to survive in a hostile climate among potentially lethal reptiles?" She arched a slim brow over one eye and waited for the penny to drop.

"Primeval Earth is not like the reptile exhibit at a zoo, Abby." Her bottom was grinding into his crotch and he was having difficulty concentrating, plus having her so near was driving him insane. A purely caveman urge was starting to over take him, visions of her slung over his shoulder and carted off to the mezzanine bedroom starting to crowd his minds eye.

"I'll have you know, I've traveled to some of the most inhospitable areas of the world to take part in reptiles rescues and specimen collecting. The Galapagos are hardly a picnic spot!" She shifted and wrung an audible groan from his lips. As if just realising that her position on his lap had certain advantages, she repeated the move, only to grin wickedly when Stephen's hands flexed against her waist and he grimaced, as if in pain.

"Something wrong Stephen?"

"You're a veritable Jungle Jane, but if you keep doing what your doing I'll be forced to do something in retaliation."

She deliberately moved again, her expression saucy. "And that would be?" she teased, laughing.

The hands that had been merely holding her about the waist suddenly moved, and she found herself shrieking as he tickled her unmercifully. The maneuver forced Abby to leap off Stephen's lap just as the door opened to admit Claudia Brown, Nick's leaving the table not even noticed by either Stephen or Abby as he went to answer the ringing of the door bell.

Abby tried to look more composed in the face of the arrival of the older woman, but she only managed to look adorably flushed, while Stephen sat at the table and grinned unashamedly.

Nick managed to hide his amusement and steered Claudia over to the table. Connor and Abby pulled up chairs and joined them, so that all five sat around the table and waited to hear the latest news.

"Firstly the good news. I've contacted the CMU and everything is set for you to return to your office and access to all the area's your predecessor had available to him." She spoke directly to Nick, "given the unusual nature of your return, and the time that's passed, the CMU faculty have already replaced you on the lecture circuit, but hadn't got around to replacing you as head of your department."

"That's because nobody else was doing the same research as we were." Nick interrupted.

"Exactly. Which is why they left your office as you left it, or at least how the Professor Cutter of our world left it. Given the similarities between the two worlds, I think you'll find everything you need right where you left it." Claudia paused again, only a small smile of satisfaction to curl her lips.

"And the bad news?" Stephen asked.

"Lester knows what you're wanting to do." She stated baldly.

"How?" Connor asked.

"What does he know?" Cutter interjected, "and why did you tell him?"

Claudia looked taken aback at his vehemence and stared back at Nick, anger making her usually calm brown eyes darken and narrow. "I didn't have to tell him. You forget, we work at the Home Office. Nothing happens there that isn't recorded, listened to or reported on. In this instance it was a case of someone overhearing several conversations, which were automatically recorded then handed to Lester. First I knew about it, was when I got the call to present myself and explain." She turned to looked pointedly at Stephen, then Abby and Connor. "Are you really so naïve as to think that a Home Office employee doesn't keep tabs on the people who use Home Office transportation?"

"You mean they spied on us?" Abby squeaked, looking askance.

"It's standard procedure," Claudia explained, sighing.

"We not exactly trained in the ways of espionage, and this hardly qualifies as a threat to Home Security," Nick retorted. "So the damage is done, what did Lester say?"

"Surprisingly, very little. It was almost as if he expected this. According to him, there is already steps under way to follow up, on exactly what we were talking about. There is a laboratory dedicated to finding a workable solution to find the anomalies, as well as possible theories on ways to contain and maintain them. He wants you to meet with the men involved and see what you can suggest, given your unique perspective on the situation."

"How far along are they?" Stephen asked.

"Not far enough to have a working device, or even plans at this stage. That is why he wants you to go to Scotland and see what information you can get out of the Observatory regarding the mapping of the Earth's magnetic field, with the possible applications for this project." Claudia replied, looking only at Stephen.

"What about us?" Connor piped up, both he and Abby looking expectantly as her.

"Connor says he has some knowledge of quantum physics," Stephen offered.

"Then he'd best come with me and see what he can teach the boffins," Nick announced, smiling grimly. "Have any of them had any experience with the anomalies themselves, or are they just going on reports from Ryan and Lester?"

"Pretty much just from reports, which is why Lester wants you to go and see them. With your extensive practical knowledge you could really make a difference."

"The boffins it is then," said Nick, Connor barely able to suppress his excitement at the prospect.

"And we're for Scotland," Stephen added, turning to face Abby, "I hope you have some cold weather gear, it gets a wee bit nippy up there." He laid on a heavy Scots accent that had Nick rolling his eyes in amusement.

After that the party broke up. Connor had to pack a hasty bag as he was to go with Claudia and Nick back to Nick's house to spend the night, before the trip back to London the next day. Abby and Stephen would set out in the silver truck, to drive to Scotland in the morning, so an early night all ways round was greeted with approval.

It was already getting dark outside when Abby and Stephen waved goodbye to the others from the front door of Abby's flat. Once the black car was out of sight, Stephen scooped Abby up in his arms and swept her up the short flight of stairs to the living room.

"What are you doing, you idiot, put me down!"

"I've half a mind to take revenge for that lap dance you gave me earlier."

Closing the sliding door with his foot, he didn't let her go, but carried her steadily up the stairs until he reached the mezzanine. After he reached the top safely, Abby decided to distract him, kissing him even as he carried them both to the double bed to fall in a tumbled heap on the covers.

It was gloomy and shadowing in the bedroom with only the dying light from outside coming through the windows. They lay for a long time, fully clothed on top of the bedspread, doing nothing more than kissing and getting reacquainted with lips and tongues, fingers and limbs. As the light slowly died and the shadows lengthened, clothes started to vanish and flesh appear pale in the increasing darkness. Breathy sighs and stifled moans competed with the rustle of the sheets, as two became one in the dark confines of Abby's bed, the lack of sight amply replaced with the sense of touch, mouths replacing looks in conveying emotion and sensation.

Some time later, Stephen turned over and propped himself up on his elbow, fumbling in the darkness for matches before lighting one and setting it to a candle wick, the golden light casting a glow over flushed skin and tousled hair. Blowing the match out, he watched the flame for a moment, the flickering light reflected in his heavy lidded eyes. A pale blond head rose behind him, slender arms wrapping around his shoulders as she leant against his back.

Lifting his free hand, he captured one of hers and brought it to his lips to kiss, before turning back to lay against the rumpled pillows, Abby laying her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry if I was a bit rushed and rough...it's been awhile."

Abby giggled, and Stephen smiled at the sound.

"Stephen, if that's your idea of rough and rushed..." she giggled again, "I was almost ready to tell you to hurry up!"

"Abby!"

"Well...I have a confession...it's been quite some time for me as well."

"How long?"

"At least a year before I met you..."

"Oh...I'm flattered."

"You should be."

The candle flickered and sent shadows skittering across the ceiling.

"How long for you?" Abby asked.

"Longer than I care to remember. Certainly longer than you. Alison was away so much, and I was caught up in my research with Nick. Then, once the anomalies started, there simply wasn't the time."

"No over sexed female archaeologist trying to get you into the broom closet for a quicky?" Abby teased, hearing his chuckle deep in his chest.

"Oh there are always those...but I got very adept at avoiding the broom cupboard and the basement laundry room where I lived."

"I almost feel sorry for them...chasing the handsome, but elusive Stephen Hart all over campus..."

Stephen ignored her teasing. "And then, when I met you...the other you...with that first anomaly...I think it was love at first sight."

"But you never acted on it...with the other me?"

"No. There was all the wreckage of Helen and my betrayal of Nick...and then I managed to make a mess of things when I was attacked..." he paused for a long moment, memories crowding in.

Abby finally prodded him. "What happened when you were attacked?"

"I asked you...her out for a meal, a date." He laughed mockingly, "can you believe how pathetic that is, to only get the balls to ask a girl out when you think you're dying."

"But you did ask me...her...out and did I say yes?"

"You did...but then the toxin made me lose my memory, and you thought I was only pretending to forget. I did remember a week or so later, by then I thought it was too late. You'd gone off me."

"Well I don't think that was the case...I may be female but I'm not automatically fickle as well."

"I kinda figured that out for myself later. There were a couple of instances when I thought that maybe you...she still liked me..."

"But?" Abby couldn't explain why she needed to know it all, only that it was important for both her sanity and his.

"That last day...with Helen and her spite, I figured that was the end of any chance I had with you...her."

"Considering how things turned out, maybe that was for the best," Abby whispered softly. "I don't think I'm generous enough to share you with anyone...not even myself."

A spurt of guilt made Stephen wrap her more firmly in his arms as he thought about the other Abby left behind. He'd seen her face, when Helen had revealed the affair, a look he never wanted to to see again. It had torn him up, his feelings at the time veering between rage at Helen for her spite, and fear that Abby would never give him the chance to explain. Now that chance had all but been taken out of his hands and he mourned the loss. He had no idea why he'd been given a second chance, but he wasn't about to throw it back. The woman in his arms stirred and he kissed her tousled blond head.

"Me neither." He murmured back.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	14. Flickering Light

27/09/07

Title: Flickering Light

Author: squeezynz

continues straight on from chapter 13 – Blinding Light

Authors Note:(delayed due to 4.30am starts for the past five days - only three more to go)

(set in AR2 – with AR1Stephen, AR3Nick.)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It was raining again, the ground sodden and churned up by the feet of the technicians as they struggled to set up the equipment. Stephen Hart stood to one side, an umbrella over his head. This was the third test in a week, and tempers were getting frayed. Lester was threatening to come down and oversee the project himself if they didn't produce results soon. Men in dark raincoats hurried to erect the framework that supported the maze of wires needed to create the portal, thick power cables running off to rumbling generators, the smell of diesel thick in the damp air.

Stephen flexed his shoulders and tried to relieve the ache in his muscles. The trip to Scotland two weeks ago had produced a wealth of information that was the corner stone of the current theory. Gathering it had been easy, implementing the hardware to make it all work was proving the sticking point. It had worked in the laboratory, on a scale a fraction of the size of the actual prototype, but somewhere a vital piece of the puzzle was missing or left off the plans. So far they hadn't managed to get the anomaly arc to function as it should. Every possible resource had been made available to them and the scientists, every request for materials or manpower fulfilled with flattering alacrity. Yet still they hadn't managed to contain or stabilize one of the half dozen anomalies detected in the last fourteen days. Nobody had got much sleep, too excited at the prospect at the start, then as the days went by and a concrete possibility started to come out of the gathered intel, every mind was needed to brainstorm the possible applications of the information. Several initial ideas were discarded due to time and sheer impracticality, whatever they created needing to be portable and easily assembled on sites of every kind of variation, from woodland to hillside and all the shades in between.

Which is how Stephen found himself sheltering in a dripping forest, the sole member of the group not taking shelter in the nearby Victorian era hotel in the wilds of the Welsh marches. It was cold and wet and he heartily wished he was sitting in the pub with a pint, a warm Abby in his lap.

The men were setting up lights around the perimeter, the heavily overcast day so gloomy it was hard to believe it was midday. He tramped back to one of the drab green tents set up to monitor what was about to happen. One of the successes of the project was the appropriation of a satellite for their exclusive use, Sir James pulling several influential strings to make it happen. They now had accurate and regular data about magnetic fluctuations occurring within the limits of the British Isles, the information reliable to within a few meters. It was then a race between detecting the sites, to reaching them before the anomaly flickered out of existence before anyone could reach it. It was stretching resources to their limits as well as the endurance of everyone involved.

Dumping the soaked umbrella on the ground, Stephen wiped his hands over his face, feeling the grittiness in his eyes and wanting nothing more than to find a comfortable bed and sleep for a month.

"Anything?"

The man sitting engrossed at the monitor glanced up, his ears covered by huge earphones.

"It'll be within the next few minutes. Harris should have the last plug in place now and we should...yes, there, see?" He excitedly pointed to the screen and Stephen leaned in to see better. Sure enough the computer screen was displaying a series of graphs with major spikes highlighting the scrolling line, similar to a seismograph. It seemed the anomaly had arrived as predicted. The sound of the transformers increased as the load on them pulled all the energy they could produce.

"Chalk one up to the boffins," Stephen muttered, hitching up the collar of his already soaked jacket and preparing to go and see for himself. The crump and rattle of weapons fire and cries of men being shot froze him in place as he reached for his umbrella. A seconds later another scream from close by snapped him out of his frozen state and he ducked as a bullet whistled overhead. The sound of a body falling told him the operator was hit, more bullets ripping holes in the tent as he crawled backwards towards the injured man. A quick check of the pulse confirmed the operator was dead, Stephen cursing as more bullets turned the tent into a swiss cheese. The soldiers sent to guard the scientists were returning fire on whoever was invading the camp, the exchange of gunfire deafening in the small area.

Making his way to the back of the tent, he used his knife to cut a hole, then slit it down to the ground to make a door for him to slip through. Ducking between the tents and keeping low, he headed for where he knew the military had been picketed, the sound of gunfire dwindling. He couldn't tell which side was winning, only that anyone foolish enough to raise his head was likely to have it blown off. Using the thick clumps of ferns for cover, he circled around the tents to approach the anomaly and get a better look at the situation. Abruptly the gun fire ceased and he raised his head only to see the remaining soldiers herded into the center of the camp, their hands on their heads in surrender.

The attackers were all dressed in fatigues and black balaclava's, their automatic weapons slung over shoulders and covering the men now huddled in front of the tents. Several of the attackers were searching the tents, apparently looking for someone or something. Stephen kept low and watched, fairly sure he was invisible among the lush bracken ferns. The newly formed anomaly was flickering brightly off to his right, the shards of light rotating around the center in a familiar pattern, seemingly ignoring the ropes of wire surrounding it with the purpose of containment and closure.

The sound of voices drew his attention back to the compound, the attackers having a conference away from the prisoners, who now knelt on the ground, unprotected from the continual rain. There were several of the non-combatant techs mixed in with the soldiers, and Stephen was surprised to see how many were relatively unharmed despite the seemingly ferocious gun battle. Cursing when a tree overhead dumped its load of drips on him all at once, Stephen started to make his way backwards, his idea to get as far away from the camp as possible then circle around and head back towards the small town of Mallwyd, where the rest of his team were safely ensconced. In his dark jacket and sodden clothes he hoped to escape detection, calling on all his skill as a tracker to avoid capture as he inched his way through the ferns.

He almost succeeded in his plan, able to get as far as the forest access road before disaster struck. The tents and trucks were far behind him and he was jogging to cover as much ground as possible when he felt something hit him on the back. It was like someone had thrown a rock, but when he reached to see what it was his fingers encountered a dart, similar in design to the ones used to capture big cats. Almost as soon as he'd plucked it out, his legs started to buckle and he fell on his knees in the mud, the trees swinging crazily about his head before the world went black, the distant sound of voices following him into the void.

"You were right, he did manage to escape the cordon. Just as well we had a man posted."

"I told you, if anyone can survive this man can. He's one of the best."

"We'd better take him back, the boss will be wanting to see for himself, he's in one piece."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Nick swirled the fine single malt around his glass before tossing it back and letting it slide like liquid fire down his throat, warming every corner of his body. He glanced again at the ornate clock on the wall, the painted cuckoo just managing to poke it's head out to chime the hour.

"Stephen should be back by now."

Abby, sitting in the same booth, her knees drawn up and an Irish coffee clutched between her hands, nodded. "Hours ago. It's dark outside."

Connor yawned and stretched. "You don't think something nasty came through the anomaly and ate him?"

"Funny Con, don't give up your day job!" Abby retorted, poking her tongue out at the younger man.

Claudia appeared in the doorway of the public room of the hotel and hurried over to their table, a frown creasing her brows. "I've been trying to raise someone, anyone at the site, but I'm getting nothing but static."

"Nothing at all?" Abby queried, now looking as worried as Claudia.

"They checked in at five without any problem, but missed their seven-o-clock mark. I've been trying to get through since ten past."

"Time to investigate. Have you informed Lester?"

"As per protocol. He's pulling Ryan off one of the other projects and sending him over with some of his men. He'll probably meet us there."

"Good, because I don't intend to wait for him. Coming?"

They downed the last of their drinks and headed out of the hotel into the dark, drizzly night. The trip to the site was largely silent, no-one wanting to voice their concerns, but everyone thinking about the myriad things that could have gone wrong, including the return of the toothy predator, Gorgonopsid, or maybe a new threat with equally lethal intentions. Connor was watching the GPS tracking screen and directed Nick where to turn off, the forest road barely discernible in the unlit back roads. Once off the sealed road, the truck bounced about in the ruts, the headlights illuminating bits and pieces of trees as they negotiated one pot hole after another.

Abby, in the passenger seat, hung onto the handle above her head to prevent being thrown about, flipping the switch to turn on the floods which showed the churned up track stretching off into the darkness.

"We should be getting near, but I can't see any lights," Connor observed, peering between the two front seats for a better look, but getting thrown around more.

Nick fought the wheel and tried to steer around the worst of the deep ruts. The spotlights picked up the red rear reflectors of a number of vehicles up ahead. Slowing down, he got Abby to toggle the spotlights to shine off to the right where the tents should have been set up. She found the tents, but there were still no lights showing. There was no sign of an anomaly either.

The truck finally came to a halt, Nick and Abby climbing out to look around, Claudia and Connor following more slowly.

"Stephen!" Abby shouted, the rain quickly soaking her hair and dripping down her collar.

Claudia pulled one of the large umbrella's out from behind the back seat and handed another to Connor. "Go help Abby," she directed him before squelching her way over to where Nick stood, apparently impervious to the downpour. He didn't turn his head, but simply lifted his arm and pointed to the side of one of the tents. In the bright lights of the spots it was easy to see the round bullet holes in the canvas. As they stood and looked they could see equipment boxes upturned and spilling their contents, as well as other evidence of some sort of conflict. Of the people there was no sign, not even bodies. The distant roar of a truck approaching along the track brought them all back to the silver ute.

Captain Ryan left the black troop carrier and jogged over to join Nick and the others.

"What's the situation?"

"As you see it now. No sign of life, no anomaly and no lights." Nick informed him, the others nodding when Ryan flicked a glance over them.

"Right. Let's get some light on the scene."

He spent the next few minutes directing his men to get the generators running and make a thorough search of the area. With the big night lights once more working, it was easier to see just how much damage had been done, the most worrying sight being the bullet riddled canvas walls.

Abby wondered into one of the tents and spotted a familiar back pack, one she new well, because she helped him pick it out. She was still holding it when Claudia joined her. Abby turned to the older woman with her eyes suspiciously bright.

"It's Stephen's. He wouldn't have just left it here." She clutched the bag against her chest and stared at the wreckage of the communications tent. A big rip in the rear wall drew her attention. Claudia also went over to investigate.

"Could've been done by anyone," Abby said a little forlornly, fingering the cut edge of the cloth.

"And it could have been done by Stephen, escaping from whatever happened here."

"Then where is he?" Abby asked, as they picked their way back out of the tent to join the others. Nick was examining the arrangement of wires strung between two trees to form a web to capture the anomaly when it appeared. He went to touch one of the wires and it arced, burning him.

"This is still hot!" He exclaimed, drawing Ryan's attention as well as the others.

"The line's been cut to two of the generators hooked up to this contraption. Maybe whoever did this wanted it to close in a hurry." Suggested Ryan, looking first at the wiring, then at the ground. "It looks like a great deal of footprints heading in this direction, but there's none past this line." He pointed past the two trees and it was obvious that no-one had gone beyond a certain point.

"Are you suggesting they went through?" Nick asked, the others looking at the black ops Captain in some disbelief.

"I'm thinking that maybe this is how they came through and left," said Ryan, gesturing to the space where the anomaly had possibly appeared. Certainly the footprints seemed to back up his idea.

"But surely the anomaly only leads to Earth's past. Why would anyone want to go there?" Claudia asked.

"In my time my wife, Helen, used the anomalies to travel to and from our time. Living in the Permian period and popping back and forth over a period of eight years. If she can do it, why not someone else. Be a hell of a way to hide."

"You think they took Stephen and the others through it?" Abby asked, still holding Stephens bag like a talisman.

"Going by the facts as we see them, yes." Ryan answered her.

"Couldn't they have just driven trucks along the track and we somehow missed them?" Connor asked.

"We thought of that and checked the track as we came along it. There's no evidence of vehicles leaving the forest road, all recent activity is inward, not outward. If someone used a vehicle to get here, they either drove through the anomaly or hiked out."

"Not with all the men who were here, including Stephen, in the dark." Nick scoffed, turning back to stare at the tangled wires, blind to the rain still hammering his unprotected head and shoulders.

"I'll take some of the men and check the surroundings." Ryan didn't wait for an answer, just took off at a jog, calling to some of his men to follow. Nick supposed that Ryan would be checking in case the people from the camp had been led away and dumped somewhere in the forest. He hoped for all their sakes Ryan found nothing. Claudia tugged at his arm and stepped closer to offer him the protection of her umbrella.

"Nick, come away to the tent, you're getting drowned."

"What? Oh...sure...let's all get under cover, this could be a long night."

Despite the evidence of violence all around, the roof of the remaining tents were all intact, providing much needed shelter from the rain storm. Abby sat on a box, Stephen's pack still clutched in her arms, Connor by her side offering silent support, but looking glum. Claudia and Nick appeared and hurried inside, Nick carrying a bag from which he drew out a thermos and a clutch of plastic mugs.

"The coffee was still hot," he explained, a frown between his brows, "it would seem we missed whatever happened here by minutes." He accepted the mug held out to him by Claudia, the others now cradling their own mugs and looking at him expectantly. "From the evidence of the footprints it would seem that whoever did this," he glanced up at the overturned computer console and torn back wall, "must have taken everyone through the anomaly with them."

"But why? What purpose could there be in kidnapping all those people? There would have been nearly fifteen in all; soldiers, techs and Stephen."

"I don't know Claudia, I have no idea." He sipped at the bitter brew in his mug and pondered that very question. "Has there ever been anyone interested in the anomalies outside of the Home Office and spurious reporters?"

"I don't know. Lester would be the one to ask. I've certainly never heard of anyone kicking up a fuss over the project, it's been so well kept off the radar."

"I said before that Helen survived by jumping through the anomalies, traveling across different periods in history, but always able to return to her own time. The Helen Cutter in this time said she was working on something in South America, do you know what that is?"

"I can find out, but I'd need to go back to the Office to find out. We keep a dossier on everyone in the project, including their next of kin and their movements."

"What?!" Connor yelped, squirming and looking uncomfortable.

"Yes Connor, Big Brother has been watching you ever since you were brought in on this," Claudia explained, "and we know more about you, than your mother will ever hear about."

"Are we bugged?" Abby asked, looking tired but determined.

"No, not now." Claudia replied honestly, "but with what's happened, it might be a good idea to carry some sort of tracking device."

"In case any more of us are taken?" Nick asked, "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I agree with you on this. It might just be time to let Big Brother help us."

"That's fine for us, but what about Stephen?" Abby piped up, tossing the dregs of her coffee onto the churned up grass.

The tramp of booted feet interrupted them, Ryan appearing in the entrance to the tent, his expression tight. "We've found evidence that the attackers camped near here, a day or more before you all arrived. It would seem they were here for the anomaly the same as you."

"Then they must already have a tracking device, or be hooked into our own satellite to get the co-ordinates." Nick suggested. Ryan shook his head.

"Not possible. That intel is secure. If they do have some sort of tracking device, it isn't known to us. It's impossible to tell if this was a planned mass kidnapping, or just bad timing on our part."

"You mean they were just waiting for the anomaly to appear to use it, and Stephen and the others got in the way?" Abby asked. Ryan nodded, accepting the mug of coffee Claudia held out to him.

"It's a possibility. We'll know more once we have communications established. In the meantime, I was about to suggest you return to the hotel for the night..."

"No. I'm not leaving." Abby interrupted, her expression mutinous.

"Me neither." Connor added, sitting upright and crossing his arms over his chest.

Ryan looked at Nick who shrugged and then Claudia, who lifted the remains of her coffee in silent support of the younger members of the group.

"I see. Then I suggest you move to another tent and let my techs see what they can salvage here."

A brief, slippery run across the compound saw them all enter another tent, smaller than the last, but roomy enough to accommodate them. There were a couple of camp beds along one wall, plus tables and chairs set up along the other. A lantern swung from each of the poles and cast a sickly yellow light over everything. Several large storage boxes revealed blankets and pillows for the beds.

"I guess we make ourselves comfortable," Nick suggested. Claudia looked around the tent then made for the entrance, opening her umbrella. "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to Ryan. As soon as they have a direct line I need to bring Lester up to date. I'll be back as soon as I give my report." Then she was gone into the rain, the tent flap slapping wetly behind her.

Zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz

Nick was sleeping, his head cradled on the table top, cushioned by his arms. Abby was stretched out on one of the camp beds, Connor on the other. Claudia hadn't returned and Nick thought it wise to get what rest he could, because you never knew when the next chance would present itself.

His soft snores competed with Connor's snuffles, the drum of rain on canvas muted now that the worst of the storm had passed.

"Nick, wake up." He heard the voice, but didn't immediately respond. A slim hand shook his shoulder and he lifted his head. One of the lanterns had gone out, the remainder leaving his visitor in shadow.

"What is it?"

"Nick, wake up it's me...Helen."

He lifted his head, staring blearily at the figure standing over him. "Helen? What are you doing here? I thought you went to South America?"

"Nick, wake up. I'm not that Helen...look at me."

Sitting up, he did, noting that his wife had aged since he'd last seen her. Her hair had liberal streaks of grey among the brown and her face appeared more lined. Her eyes were just as bright as he remembered, but somehow they looked haunted. "If you're not that Helen, which Helen are you?"

"It's too complicated to explain now. I need you to come with me now, just you, not the others."

Nick was wide awake now, and glanced over at the two camp beds. "Just me," he mused, "and are you responsible for what happened here? Where's Stephen?"

"There's no time to chat Nick, I need you to come with me now," Helen glanced down at her wrist, at an elaborate watch device strapped to her arm. "The anomaly won't stay open much longer, and we have to go now."

"Hang on, you appear out of nowhere, and just expect me to go along with you?"

"Nick, this is me, Helen. I can answer all your questions, but not right now."

Nick stared at her appraisingly. "You're from the future, aren't you?"

"Very astute of you Nick, you always were a smart one. Yes, I'm from the future, but if you don't come with me, there will be no future, either for you, or Stephen or anyone."

Nick ducked his head and laughed softly. "You were always one for the amateur dramatics Helen. You want me to believe you're trying to save the future?"

"All our futures, all the Nick's, and Helen's and Stephen's...don't you want to see your Claudia, not the one here, but the one you left behind?" She was starting to back towards the entrance to the tent, glancing repeatedly at the chronograph on her wrist. "Aren't you the least bit curious as to what this is all about? How the anomalies are being formed, opened, closed?"

"Of course I am. I just don't trust you to give me those answers." Nick replied, his face wiped of all amusement. "Why should I listen to anything you say?"

"Because I know you, Nick. If you thought there was a chance of learning the truth, you'd follow me to the ends of time and back."

"I might have once, Helen."

"And you will again. I'm going now Nick. Last chance to make your choice." She waited, staring at him intently, but Nick only sat back down and shook his head.

"I'll need more proof than your word."

A mask dropped over Helen's face turning her eyes glacial. "Then you're a fool." In an instant she was gone, the tent flap fluttering with the force of her departure. He waited a second, then leapt to his feet and headed out after her.

On the cot, Abby, who had listened to the exchange in silence, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pausing briefly while Connor snorted and turned over, then ran out of the tent after him.

Outside, the compound was as brightly lit as day, and she had to shield her eyes for a moment until they adjusted. A flash of movement off to her left sent her skidding around the tent and running into the trees, the distant glimmer of flickering light drawing her onwards. As she stumbled over tree roots and fallen branches, she kept her focus on the point of light up ahead, the outline of two other people visible ahead of her. She reached a clearing and saw the anomaly, Helen Cutter running straight into the tumbling light portal without hesitating, Nick cutter doing the same a few seconds later.

Abby clutched at the straps of Stephen's back pack over her shoulders and drew in a deep breath. Even as she prepared to run, the anomaly seemed to be getting smaller. Screwing up her courage in both hands, Abby ran for the flickering, dying light and kept on going, her slight figure disappearing into the anomaly, even as it winked out of existence, taking her with it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	15. Flickering Light2

4/10/07

Title: Flickering Light 2

Author: Squeezynz

**Authors Note**: We now return to AR1 – involving AR1Abby, plus AR2Stephen and Nick.

The story so far: After a great Mexican meal, AR2Stephen returns to his flat to find someone waiting for him. When AR1Abby comes back for a nightcap she finds Stephen being beaten by two men. She is knocked out and wakes up in a van parked in dense woodland. She's taken to a tent where Stephen has been taken. We left her at his bedside. In the meantime, the others are aware of their friends being kidnapped, but don't know yet by who. They have a lead, through Claudia, and hope to learn more. Now on with the chapter.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Abby awoke when someone entered the cubicle, her head rising from it's place on the side of the bed, her eyes blinking to clear the sleep from them. The man bending over the bed and peering at Stephen was the same she'd seen in the other tent, the one that threatened to put her back in the van if she didn't cooperate. She swallowed and remained quiet, staring at the man and taking in his appearance as minutely as possible, to give the police a good description.

"They certainly did a good number on our young friend. Regrettable. I was hoping to talk to him about the species we've discovered since we arrived." The man leant back from his inspection and rocked back on his heels, his arms now crossed over his chest as he stared back at Abby. His gaze sent shivers down her back, his pale eyes cold and calculating.

"Who are you?" Abby asked, sitting straighter in her chair and clasping her hands tightly in her lap.

He seemed to be considering her question, glancing again at Stephen before returning his attention to her. "I don't suppose there is much point in being coy. Alex Massey." He gave her a twisted smile and a small bow. "Does my name mean anything to you?"

"No...should it?" Abby tried to appear unconcerned, a small frown betraying that she was racking her brain as to where she'd heard his name before.

"Oh I think it will, eventually. In the meantime, I've come here to invite you to eat with me," he held out a hand, the nails clean and perfectly manicured. Whoever Alex Massey was, he spent money on his appearance. Abby stared at the outstretched hand, as if it was a snake about to strike.

"You have Stephen beaten to a pulp, threaten me, and then you want me to eat with you?"

He lips quirked again in a crooked smile, revealing white and perfectly straight teeth. She was beginning to wonder if he was as old as his grey hair seemed to imply.

"You might find it a valuable opportunity to find out more, about what's going on here. You're bound to be hungry, so why not let yourself be tempted ?" His hand remained outstretched, rock steady and unwavering.

Steeling herself, she reached across the bed and took it, the fingers closing around hers like a trap, pulling her to her feet and across the small cubicle. Giving her only a moment to glance back at the man in the bed, Alex Massey pulled her along beside him, past the guard, past the orderly and once more out into the compound outside. She was surprised to find it completely dark, the area illuminated with tall, portable floodlights that only extended their light a little way past the reach of the encircling tents. The steady thump and growl of the generators smothered any other night noises.

"I imagine you're wondering where you are?" Alex asked conversationally, deliberately ignoring Abby's rubber necking as she tried to see as much as possible, during the short trip to the mess tent.

"That, and why you had to kidnap us in the first place," she retorted, pulling her hand free once they passed into another tent filled with tables and chairs. At one end was the kitchen area, steam rising from several chafing trays, set out with metal covers. Not all the tables were empty, but a quick flick of a hand from Alex Massey, and those men quickly finished their meals and departed, leaving Abby alone with him. He waved her to a table and waited for her to sit before doing so himself. From the kitchen appeared a man carrying a laden tray, which he placed on the table and started to hand the contents to Abby and Alex, all without a word spoken or command given.

She sat in silence, the smell of the soup set in front of her making her mouth water. Only once the kitchen hand had left with his tray, did she venture to lean over the bowl and inhale the savoury aroma.

"Do tuck in," Alex smilingly ordered her, picking up his own spoon and dipping it in his bowl.

For the first few minutes she concentrated on satisfying her overwhelming hunger, the soup and crusty bread rolls followed by a plate of some delicious meat and vegetable strew, that she demolished with a will. Only when the plate was empty did Alex raise an eyebrow, a secret smile tilting the corner of his mouth as he dabbed a napkin over his lips, before indicating for the table to be cleared.

"How did you enjoy your stew?" He asked, watching her intently.

"It was fine...very good actually. My compliments to the chef."

"Freyberg will be pleased. Given what he's had to work with, it's been a mission for him to produce something edible from the local flora and fauna."

Abby knew she was being made fun of, but couldn't understand the joke. Massey took pity and leant back in his chair.

"You're still thinking we're in your time...aren't you?" He teased, watching her expressive face with an almost feral gleam in his eyes. "You think we're just camping out in some forest, still in England somewhere, I can see it in your face."

"Aren't we?" Abby asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, we are still on Earth...but the big question is...where, and when?"

"When?" Abby asked, catching on to what he was hinting at. "Where exactly are we?"

"Not where, Miss Maitland...but when. Specifically in what period of Earth's history are we?"

"What?" Abby stared at him. "What are you saying?"

Massey tittered, the sound strange coming from the lips of a fully grown man. It had a mad sound and she drew back from the table, looking left and right but seeing nothing and nobody to aid her.

"I think I'd like to return to Stephen, if you don't mind..."

"Oh but I do. But before I explain further...the soup and stew were made of turtle meat. A soft shelled, fresh water species, from a local river. Plentiful supply and easy to catch. I'm sure Stephen could quote me chapter and verse on genus and Latin name for the creature, but I prefer to keep things simple. It looks like a turtle, tastes like a turtle, so I call it...a turtle."

"Turtle?" Abby repeated, having never tasted the exotic meat before, or ever wanted to because of it's endangered situation in her time.

"And the time you are in? Would you believe sixty million years before you were born?"

"Sixty million?" Abby repeated again, unable to do more as her mouth seemed to have become as dry as dust.

"Puts us squarely in the early Cenozoic, Paleogene period...late Paleocene to be more precise." He smirked unashamedly, drinking in Abby's incredulous expression.

Realising that her mouth was hanging open, Abby shut it and got to her feet. "I think I really want to be returned to Stephen now."

"Are you just the teeniest bit curious as to why we're here, or how we got here?"

"That's pretty obvious, you used the anomaly to get here."

"Very true. But by now you must have worked out for yourselves that these..." he waved his hands, " anomalies are not exactly the most trustworthy of portals into the past."

"Very unreliable," Abby retorted, taking a step back. Massey steepled his hands, and grinned at her.

"An understatement of primeval proportions."

He was definitely having fun with her and it rankled. "I'll just be going now...I'm really tired..."

"But the night is young. Don't you want to hear more?" He peered at her over his fingers, his eyes dancing with a manic light.

Abby took another step backwards towards the open side of the mess tent. "I think I've learned enough to be going on with..." she tapped the side of her white blond head. "You know how us blonds are...too much information and we just don't know what to do with it!" She tried for a cocky smile, but it came across as a cross between a leer and a grimace. Massey's grin faded.

"Then I suppose you must go. Until the morning, Miss Maitland. Then I can show you my little zoo, and you can give me your opinion then. Maybe our young friend will be awake then too."

"Of course...well, goodnight, and thank you for the meal." She turned to go, only to find herself blocked by the broad chest and even wider shoulders of her previous guard. She reeled back and stared up into his impassive face. Massey's voice drifted to her from where he still sat at the table.

"Sleep well, Miss Maitland. Don't think of leaving the medical tent. There's no where to go, and a guard will be posted outside." He paused, then added, "for your own protection of course."

Abby didn't turn around, merely waited for the hand she knew would be placed around her upper arm like a shackle. Her guard marched her away from the mess tent, but not back to the medical tent where she'd left Stephen.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" She tried to tug her arm lose, but the man holding her had a grip that she found impossible to loosen. "Not so tight!"

"Use the facilities and be quick about it." The guard instructed her, nearly pushing her inside a canvas walled ablution block which housed makeshift sinks and shower cubicles. The back wall was lined with port-a-loo's, while wooden grating lined the showers and ran in front of the half dozen sinks. The tent roof had several clear panels to let in light and she stood for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the semi gloom after the floodlit compound behind her. There was no way she was about to use the showers, so satisfied herself with washing her hands after using the loo. Without any personal items she couldn't brush her teeth or even her hair, her time spent on her appearance kept to the minimum. All too soon she was being hauled by the arm back to the medical tent, her head twisting left and right to take in as much as she could of the layout of the compound. Despite what Massey had said, she couldn't believe they were really sixty million years in the past, it was too incredible. It all looked so normal.

The orderly was not at his post when Abby and her bodyguard entered the medical tent. He finally let go of her arm and she rubbed it to restore the circulation. Her guard waited for her to walk ahead of him before finding his chair from before and settling in. Abby angrily pulled back the curtain and entered Stephen's cubicle. The orderly was removing the drip from Stephen's limp hand, before bundling all the tubing together and wheeling the drip pole out of the small room. He only glanced at Abby, not meeting her eyes, before leaving her alone. There was only a single light left to shed light over the bed and she pulled the chair close, her hand seeking and finding his where it lay on the covers.

"You're never going to believe what I have to tell you," she said, her free hand brushing a stray bit of hair off his face, careful not to touch any of the bruising discolouring his pale skin. "I can hardly believe it myself."

The orderly was talking to the guard beyond the canvas wall and she listened, learning nothing more exciting than the men discussing what was on the menu for the night shift crew. It seemed that Mr. Massey kept his employee's on roster twenty four seven, but why it was necessary was not made clear. When the sound of muted voices stopped, she returned her attention back to Stephen.

"I've met this crazy man, Alex Massey...his name is almost familiar, but I can't place it." She paused, more in hope than actual expectation that Stephen might answer. The steady rise and fall of the sheet and blanket over his chest was all the answer she received. Drawing in a deep breath she laced her fingers with his. "This Alex Massey is saying that we're sixty million years in the past. Talk about long distance travel...think of the air points," she tried to smile, but a glance at the purple swelling around his eye made her swallow hard instead. She could see a bandage running over his shoulder and down his chest, out of sight below the covers. She assumed it was to help with his undoubtedly broken ribs from the kicking he'd endured. Just the thought of the pain that must have caused him made tears well up and spill over her lashes, her free hand coming up to scrub them away, but without much success. "I wish I knew what was going on, and why they've brought us here, wherever here is, and I really, really wish that you would wake up, even if it's just to tell me to stop crying all over you like an idiot." She let go of his hand and used both of hers to mop up the tears blinding her.

"I don't think you're an idiot..."

Abby froze, her hands over her eyes, barely hearing the whispered words. Slowly she lowered her hands and blinked. Stephen's uninjured eye, thickly lashed and as blue as the sky, was gazing back at her. Heavy lidded, and cloudy with pain, but open and aware.

Abby wanted to scream, but clapped a hand over her mouth instead, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder to make sure the guard outside hadn't heard him. Reassured that he hadn't, She rose up and bent over Stephen. "Don't talk too loudly...I don't want them to know you're awake yet."

"Who?"

"The man holding us prisoner, I was just telling you about him...Alex Massey."

Stephen blinked slowly, taking a second to look around at the surroundings before returning his gaze back to Abby's face. "Are you alright?"

"Bugger me...what about you? Are you in pain?" She kept her voice low, resting her arm on the pillow by his head to support herself and bringing her nearly nose to nose with him.

"No pain...guess they have me on some good drugs. This isn't a hospital, is it."

"No...just a medical tent. They had you on a drip until a little while ago."

"Is there anything to drink, I'm dry as a desert."

She rose up and found the water jug, filling the beaker before bringing it to his damaged lips to sip.

"Better?" Abby asked.

"Much... you're an angel."

She twisted away to replace the cup on the side table, hoping the blush painting her cheeks would fade quickly.

"Abby?"

She turned back to face him, once more leaning on the pillow. Stephen turned his head, his hand lifting to touch her face, stroking the livid mark where she'd been struck. "Ouch." He offered in way of sympathy.

"I've had worse. That's nothing." Abby grinned down at him. "You should see the bruise I got when an elephant almost sat on me."

Stephen tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace as pain made itself known with the bruising around his mouth. "I must look a sight. My eye feels like it's about to explode."

"I'm afraid it looks like it did that already. Should I go and ask if they had a cold steak handy, to put on it?"

His undamaged eye crinkled at the corner as he gave her a crooked, half smile in lieu of a proper one. "I never could understand, why putting a slab of dead animal on a black eye, made a shits worth of difference to how it felt."

"Maybe you're just supposed to make a good meal out of it, to take your mind off the damage."

Abby smiled back, unreasonably happy that he was joking with her.

His expression slowly turned serious. "You said you were telling me about our situation. I missed the first bit...what did you say?"

"According to the madman that orchestrated all this, we're currently sixty million years in the past."

"Sixty million? In the Paleogene period...are you sure?"

"According to him, the late Paleocene. Are we in danger from dinosaurs in this time?"

"Not the ones you're probably thinking of...if his estimate of time is correct, we're past the age of the big dinosaurs. This is more the time of mammals and reptiles."

"Reptiles?"

"Early crocodiles and alligators, snakes, amphibians...alongside lots of small furry animals and birds. What's the vegetation like out there?"

"Lots of trees, heavily wooded. Looks just like England."

"What did you hear?"

"Hear? You're lucky if you can hear yourself think with those generators going full blast."

"God...sixty million years. And you say this is quite a camp?"

"Tents, trucks, lights, cooks, guards, guns."

"Trucks?" He stared at her, his head lifting off the pillow for a moment before he let it fall. "Have you seen the anomaly they're using?"

"No, nothing. Just this maniac Massey, who seemed really keen to speak to you about his discoveries."

"Talk to me?" He had been staring off into space, obviously turning things over in his brain. "Nick would be the one to talk to about this...my own knowledge is sketchy at best. We'd only just begun to explore the Permian...now we're in the Paleogene..."

"He said he had a zoo, a specimen collection I'm guessing. He was going to show me in the morning."

"Good. I'll be able to come with you..."

"No way. Stephen you took one hell of a beating, you can't..."

"Help me up.." He tried to rise himself, but found Abby's hands pinning his shoulders to the mattress. "Abby?"

"You're just pumped up with pain killers. When they wear off you'll be in no fit state to get out of this bed, let alone traipse about some primeval petting zoo."

"Abby...I can't just lay here. If we are sixty million years in the past, then we're at the mercy of this man, this Massey and I'd rather face him on my feet than on my back. Help me."

Abby glared at him, all her sympathy obviously wasted on the stupid fool. "You are not getting out of this bed, even if I have to sit on you to stop you."

"Please, don't make me laugh, it hurts like hell." He tried again to sit up, his face contorting into a rictus of livid discomfort, Abby unable to bear his struggle for more than a second before putting her arms about him to help him. Together, they managed to manhandle him to the side of the bed, where he sagged, panting heavily with Abby keeping him from falling over.

"Satisfied, you fool. You can't possibly stand, let alone walk...please lay down."

Stephen tilted his head to see her better out of his one good eye. "I think I have to agree...shit this hurts..." With his arm clamped about his middle to lessen the jarring on his ribs, he slowly eased himself back on the bed, Abby using her weight to counterbalance his descent as he sank into the pillows. Sweat was visible on his forehead and upper lip and he hissed between clenched teeth. Abby left the blankets and sheet off and hurried to wet a cloth to mop his face.

"Stupid, stupid...why are men so pig headed," she swiped at her eyes to dash away the moisture gathering there. With his upper body now visible above the waistline of his jeans, she could map each punch and kick by the bruising marring his skin. The bandages hid his ribs, but nearly every other bit of exposed flesh showed the evidence of his beating. Pressing the cool cloth to his face to wash off the sweat, she bit the inside of her lip to stop herself bursting into tears. "Dammit...I'm no good at this."

"Not true...best there is.." Stephen panted, regarding her steadily as she wiped away the sweat beading his face. He felt terrible and wished for nothing more than a really big dose of something to knock him out, but right now that wasn't an option. Abby was doing her best to hold it together in front of him, but he could see she was losing the battle. Everywhere hurt, but he focused on pushing the pain to the back of his mind, his breathing becoming less hectic as he strove for his heart to slow down and his muscles to relax. After a few minutes he felt a great deal more comfortable, reaching out his hand to cup Abby's cheek as she bent over him.

Surprised, she froze and stared down at him, the sweep of his thumb over her skin leaving a tingling sensation behind it.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you...when you said I should lay still. I think maybe a few more hours might make a bit of a difference." He quirked his lips in a small smile, his heart leaping when she smiled back, some of the worry leaving her eyes when they crinkled at the corners.

"You can't help being a male."

"I think I'm going to sleep now...what about you? Do you have somewhere to sleep?"

Abby shook her head, glancing to the side at the hard chair by the bed.

"Help me..." Stephen started to shift himself sideways on the bed, inching backwards to give her room. Abby tried to protest, but he ignored her, turning onto his least injured side to give her a space beside him. Resigned, she concluded that nothing she said would deter him, so accepted his offer instead. Careful not to jostle him, she gingerly lay down on the narrow strip beside him, her slight form easily accommodated within the curve of his. She lay, her back to his front and waited for him to shift and settle against her. His arm rested on her side, below her ribs and she kept herself still to avoid jarring any of his bruises.

"Comfortable?" His voice whispered against her ear and she felt a delicious tremor start up in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm fine...what about you?"

"Managing. Warm enough?"

In truth she was about ready to burst into flames. Stephen was a hot, solid bulk against her back, her backside neatly tucked into his lap, the experience one she'd remember for a long time to come.

"Fine...now go to sleep." She scolded him, almost seeing the smile on his face despite facing away from him. Her perch was precarious, but the solid weight of his arm kept her safely held in place. She sincerely hoped she didn't snore.

The silence stretched between them, only the sound of their breathing barely intruding. Outside they could hear the regular clunking of the generators as they powered the lights through the night. Despite her previous nap, Abby felt tired out, her nerves stretched to their limit and her courage tested beyond the norm. But all of that disappeared, her body now held securely in the arms of the one man she trusted above all others, despite him not being the Stephen Hart she used to know, this was the Stephen Hart she wanted to know...and love.

Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Light was visible through the thin canvas walls when she next awoke, the single light no longer lit, and the steady hum of the generators silent. Without the mechanical noise to drown them out, the natural sounds of the creatures inhabiting the woods made their dawn chorus known to anyone who cared to listen. Hoots and whistles, fluting calls and harsh crows competed for dominance, the bird sounds coming from high in the canopy above the tents, while closer to hand the distinct chirrup and peep of different species of frogs added to the sound level. It was a strange symphony, and she couldn't remember ever hearing such a diverse collection of animal sounds in one place before. The closest she could compare was an exhibit in a London museum that was replicating a section of the Amazon rainforest, with accompanying soundtrack to enhance the display. That had seemed exotic enough, but what she was hearing now was a hundred times more alive and indescribable.

Some of the sounds repeated over and over, other's only occurring occasionally, Abby finding herself waiting almost with bated breath to hear a particular strange call again. A crash near to the side of the tent made her flinch and the arm looped casually around her waist tightened.

"You awake?" Stephen's whisper stirred the short hairs around her ear and reminded her of their current intimacy.

"Just listening to the dawn chorus. Have you ever heard so many species?"

"Once. On the Amazon river...but this even knocks that into a cocked hat. Was it this noisy before?"

"No, I don't think so. At least if it was, the noise of the generators blanked it out."

She felt him twist behind her, probably to look for the light that had been their only source of illumination through the long night. "The powers off."

"Maybe someone just switched off the light in here."

"And the generators? Unlikely."

"Maybe they ran out of fuel."

"Hmmm. I think we should get up..." he started to say, then broke off as another crash sounded, this time from inside the tent itself, beyond the canvas walls of their cubicle. They both froze, ears straining to hear what was going on outside their room. Strange noises reached them, the skittering of nails on the wooden floor plus unusual chirping noises. A loud, raucous screech right outside the small room made Abby jump, Stephen's arm the only thing keeping her pinned to the bed. She twisted to lift her head and see what had caused the noise, but couldn't move with him holding her down.

"Let me up, I'll go see what it is." Abby hissed, starting to struggle.

"No. Don't move..." his sibilant whisper rendered her immobile, the skittering noise now right beside the canvas doorway to their room. They lay on the narrow bed, bodies as still as statues as the curtain moved, pushed inwards by something on the other side. Whatever it was, pushed again and again, as if looking for a way in. Abby lay with her heart pounding and her mouth dry. She wondered what had become of the guard left at his post the night before, was he still there or were they all alone with the something trying to get in. Apparently defeated in it's purpose to breech the canvas, the creature moved on, squawking loudly after kicking aside furniture and other unsecured items that clanged and clattered in its wake. Only when they heard it's distinctive squawk from some distance away did they move.

"What was that?" Abby asked, still whispering. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stared at the canvas wall before turning to regard her bedmate. Stephen looked only a little better than the night before, the bruising and swelling around his eye starting to ease.

"No idea, but from the height it was poking at the canvas, and the noise it made, I'm guessing it was some giant flightless bird." Feeling stiff and sore, he eased himself onto his back, his now free arm cradling his middle as he wriggled into a more comfortable position.

"You mean like a moa, or an ostrich?"

"Much older...possibly one of the Gastornis or maybe a Scaniornis."

"What's the difference?"

"One will probably try to eat you, the other would more likely run away."

"Oh Great. How the hell would it be able to get in here. Last time I looked there were scores of men out there, probably a small army."

"Why don't we go out there and find out for ourselves. It's early yet, judging by the light. Maybe everyone is asleep."

"Would you leave your camp unguarded, living as you are sixty million years in the past? What if some bloody great dinosaur like the Gorgonopsid crashes the party?"

Stephen shook his head. "Not in this time period. Crocodiles rule the waters, while the birds and mammals rule the land. The big guys died out with the last extinction, end of the Mesozoic."

"So we're relatively safe...no T-Rex to worry about?" said Abby brightly.

"Nope. Of course if the insect life doesn't get you, the reptiles will or maybe a hungry croc, they get pretty big in this epoch...but otherwise, a real picnic." Gingerly swinging his legs off the bed, Stephen rested a moment on the side of the cot before attempting to stand. Seeing what he was about to try, Abby scooted around the end of the bed and came to stand beside him, making sure that his first attempt wasn't his last. Between them, they managed to get him upright, his head clearing the longer he remained on his feet. The swelling around his eye had subsided enough for him to see out of it, although it remained blurry. Abby found his clothes stuffed into a paper bag under the bed, and managed to dress him, the process taking longer than normal as he could only move slowly, to minimise the discomfort of his cracked ribs. Through out it all, no one came near the medical tent, nor were there any sounds of human activity beyond the walls, only the incessant chorus of wildlife up in the trees and surrounding the compound.

With Abby acting as his crutch on his good side, they limped out of the cubicle and found the area outside trashed. Tables and chairs were overturned and medical equipment scattered everywhere. Whatever had paid an early morning call, had left behind it a huge mess. Approaching the doorway, they paused to survey the campsite beyond. Even in the half light of dawn, they could see that something had happened. The tents grouped together in a square were relatively untouched, but here and there belongings lay discarded on the ground, boxes overturned and equipment scattered everywhere. They still didn't see anyone or hear voices, so Abby pointed out the first tent she'd been taken too, and they started towards it. While Stephen concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, Abby kept turning her head left and right, in case one of those big birds decided to come back.

They reached the tent and went inside. The interior was relatively unharmed, with little damage to the equipment still set up on tables and benches.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Abby thought out loud, not once letting go of Stephen.

"I was about to ask that very same question, Miss Maitland!" Alex Massey's voice boomed out, making Abby jump, and Stephen swing around to face their kidnapper.

Massey stood in the entrance to the tent with a large black gun in his hands. Behind him stood several men dressed in military fatigues, also sporting a collection of hardware.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me what has happened to my men?"

"Love to, except we have no idea," Stephen replied, lifting his chin and staring at the man, as if imprinting his features for future recall. Abby remained glued to his side, his arm about her shoulders not letting her stray an inch.

"You look ready to fall over, Mister Hart, shouldn't you be lying down?" Massey lowered his gun, but his men remained on alert, their attention no longer on the pair in the tent, but on the woods surrounding the camp.

"I was, but we had an early morning visitor. Have you seen a large flightless bird around here before?"

"They make very good eating," Massey quipped, "as does most of the wild life in this area."

"The way you say it, anyone would think you were trying to eat your way through the past!" Abby couldn't resist saying, a squeeze from Stephen making her feel bold.

"Very funny, Miss Maitland. But you are not entirely far from the truth. But that can wait until later. Right now, I want to know what has happened here. When I left, last night, the force wall was up and the generators going."

"Sorry mate, must have happened while we were asleep," Stephen answered, not prepared to be remotely helpful. "Where did you go?"

"Go?" Massey queried, his silver brows drawing together.

"Last night. You said you left?" Stephen arched one of his dark brows, the effort making him wince when it pulled at his still swollen eyelid.

"Later, I'm in no mood for twenty questions now. I suggest you both return to the medical tent. I'll have someone bring over some breakfast for you."

"And if we don't want to go?" Abby piped up, hating his arrogant assumption that they'd jump to his command.

"Suit yourself. But I advise against wandering too far. We are truly in a primeval time, and the wildlife is ferocious at best. Until we get the force wall back in operation, you aren't safe to go beyond the line of the tents."

"About that force wall..." Stephen started to ask, but Massey only laughed and turned on his heel, leaving them standing, staring after him.

"Told you he was mad." Abby muttered. "Do you want to go back to bed?" She canted her head to see his face better, and surprised a wide smile creasing his face. "What?"

"I'd be happy to go back to bed with you anytime," he announced softly, watching the blush steal over her piquant features, the pink lending colour to her face.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Are you up to the walk back?"

"A walk yes, back to bed no. Somethings going on here, and the sooner we find out the better. He said we could explore within the circle of the tents, so let's do that."

"Alright. But if you pass out on me, I'll have to drop you where you lay. There's too much of you for me to haul anywhere," Abby warned him.

"I'll give you plenty of warning if I feel faint, okay?"

"Fine. You lead, I'll just act as your prop." Hitching his arm over her shoulder, she grasped his hand and prepared to set off.

"The wind beneath my wings." Stephen quoted, but Abby looked at him blankly.

"What?"

"Oh nothing. Just something I heard. Come on prop, lets go see what sixty million years ago looks like."

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tbc...


	16. Flickering Light3

15/10/07

Title: Flickering Light pt3

Author: Squeezynz

Authors Note: Story so far in this arc – AR1Abby(from the end of S1ep.6) and AR2Stephen have been abducted to another time by an Alex Massey, for reasons not yet made clear. Back in AR1, AR2Nick, AR1Claudia Marsden, AR1Connor, plus AR1Lester and the resources of the Home Office, are trying to track down a man seen following the original AR1Nick(who is still missing somewhere) and AR1Stephen(who was in AR2, but now probably in AR4) on a surveillance video, who they think was one of the men spotted by AR1Stephen's flatmate across the hall, and on the building cctv camera.

(So at this stage in the story, both Stephens, from both time lines(AR1 and AR2) have been abducted and their friends are trying to find out why and by whom.)

Author's Note2: Sorry if this is all getting too confusing, but blame my muse. I'll be publishing a time-line to make things a little clearer at the finale of the story, for reference purposes.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Nick and Connor were kicking their heels in a side office, it's glass walls giving a perfect view down the length of the hall to Lester's office, where Claudia was currently talking with her boss.

"Why would anyone want to kidnap Stephen?" Connor asked for the hundredth time, Nick letting out a sigh, before lifting his head to answer.

"We're not likely to know the answer to that, until Claudia finds out who that man works for."

"I mean, it's not like he's famous, or well known..."

"Except in our field. But that's a pretty limited circle of people." Nick folded his arms across his chest and ducked his head to stare at the floor. He kept going over and over, in his mind, the people that he and Stephen had somehow pissed off in the last handful of years. Of course, he couldn't know how his counterpart in this time had fared, he only had his own experiences to go by, but he figured that if the Nick and Stephen did the same as he did in his time, they were sure to have got on the wrong side of someone in their travels. He was about to ask Connor to use his laptop to do a search, when he saw that Claudia was walking towards them, her hips swinging in a way that sent his blood pulsing in his veins.

Claudia entered the glass walled room and shut the door behind her. "We know who it is, or at least who the man works for."

Both Nick and Connor stepped forward, their attention all focused on her. Claudia chewed her lip and Nick, frustrated, flung up his hands.

"Well?"

"Does the name Alex Massey mean anything to you? In your time, I mean, not just in this."

"Alex Massey?" Nick queried, the name skittering about the edges of his memory. "Not exactly. Is he the employer of that man, that followed the other Nick and Stephen?" Claudia nodded.

"It took some digging, and some pulling of strings, but we've managed to track him down to a corporation based in Hong Kong. This Alex Massey is CEO of a company that specialises in electronic hardware, computer software and weapons development."

"Covers a lot of ground." Connor muttered, sitting down at the glass topped table and flipping open his laptop, his fingers flying over the keys. Claudia ignored him, concentrating on Nick.

"Rhino Corp is a multinational and has an HQ here in London, and most major cities around the world."

"What do you know about this Massey – on a personal note, not business?"

"He's a hard man to profile. We have no images of him, no information before nineteen ninety six, when he was appointed to the position of chairman of the board. All we do know, is that the man in the cctv footage has also been recorded by Hong Kong police, going into the Rhino Corp head office. We currently doing a search of other footage from other cities to. We're not the only people interested in Alex Massey and Rhino corp. Interpol, the CIA, FBI and several other agencies, in other countries, have this company on their radar."

"Why?"

"Because of the what they produce." Claudia told him. Nick raised his eyebrows and Claudia continued. "Cutting edge electronics, with military applications at almost every level. From spy camera's to laser sights, including heat seeking and guided missiles, every conceivable combination of stealth and combat technology. They are the company to approach if you want the latest of what's available."

"And this man, that abducted our friends, is employed by this company?"

"It would appear so. We're doing a more thorough search, to find more references and data, but that's going to take time."

"And while that's happening, we sit here and twiddle our thumbs?"

"No exactly." Claudia turned to Connor, who was still engrossed in his lap top. "What have you found, Mister Temple?"

Connor didn't bother to look up, just raised an hand to wave at them impatiently. "Come take a look."

Nick and Claudia crowded next to Connor and peered at the screen.

"I searched the name, but only came up with a few references, nothing very informative. Then I went to a couple of sites I know – conspiracy theorists, you know the sort – and searched their database. It seems that Rhino corp, and Alex Massey are starting to pop up on the underground network, not just with the big players. See here..." he pointed to the screen and his audience peered more closely. "He is listed as a subscriber to several publications, among them several that specialise in catering to the extreme hunter in the top level income bracket."

"What do they hunt?" Claudia asked, frowning.

"Anything that's on the endangered or protected list." Connor answered, glancing up at them.

"What sort of animals?" Nick asked, his voice barely above a growl.

"Tigers, bears, snow leopard – anything bigger than a badger, and even they are considered quite a trophy. On one of the animal activist forums, this magazine is touted as the main cause of certain species extinction in third world countries. The amount of money being thrown at locals, to provide tracking and location, is too much for them to pass up. It's rumoured that there is a secret group of top level corporate heads aiming to add the heads of every species listed in the World Wildlife Funds endangered list, whether mammal, bird or reptile."

"Do they know who are members of this group?"

"No. It's been buried too deeply, all hush hush, for obvious reasons. Membership by personal invitation only."

Nick leant back, his arms crossed over his chest. He was still staring at the screen, but it was plain he was turning something over in his mind. Claudia stood beside Connor and waited. At length, Nick raised his eyes and stared at her over Connor head.

"I think that, somehow, this is all related to Stephen's abduction."

"How?" Claudia asked, perplexed at his reasoning.

"I don't know about the Stephen in this time line, but the Stephen in mine, and I suspect in this and any other time line, is an expert tracker of animals. He may not be known worldwide, but it is known that he can track almost anything through any terrain. That, combined with his specialist knowledge of prehistoric creatures, could be why he was taken, and I have a theory on where."

He paused, the others staring at him. Eventually Claudia had to speak.

"Well?"

"You've stated that this – Alex Massey – is head of this corporation, and they specialise in everything to do with stealth and technology." He waited for Claudia to nod. "What if this man, as a member of this elite hunting club, has decided to branch out."

Connor sat back in his chair and threw his hand up in the air. "Sorry mate, I'm not getting what you're saying. In English please?"

"Look. Obviously this Massey, through his company has access to every conceivable bit of technological advancement. Possibly he uses it to help him with his...hobby. What if he was to hear about the anomalies.." Claudia tried to speak, but Nick waved her down. "No wait. What if this Massey found out about the anomalies, or was told about them and the potential to hunt, not just in the present day, but in the past and the future? What if he developed the technology to not only find one of the wormholes into the fourth dimension, but was able to use his own technical resources to find a way to open them, maintain them, use them."

"It's a pretty big leap, Nick. Are you suggesting he's using the anomalies to hunt dinosaurs?"

"It's not too out there. The earth is rapidly being depleted of its big game animals. They're either protected or extinct. What could be better than to find fresh killing fields, and not only fresh, but novel and original? Plus he can control the anomalous wormholes to his advantage, popping back and forth between time and space to his hearts content."

"And Stephen?"

"I'm assuming the man either doesn't have anyone qualified to identify and find the animals he wants to hunt, or he's recently lost his own tracker in an accident." Nick held out his hands and waited for Connor and Claudia to voice their opinions.

Connor decided to speak first. "But why take Abby?"

"Possibly because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe to give them leverage over Stephen, make him cooperate?" Claudia suggested, glancing at Nick for confirmation.

"Exactly!" Nick agreed. "And you said this character didn't appear before nineteen ninety six?"

Claudia nodded.

"Maybe we need to concentrate on finding out just who Alex Massey is, and what his company is really all about. What about the man on the cctv footage?"

"After we run the film from the other head offices, we should be able to run him to ground. I'll go and check on my staff now and see how they're going with the search."

"I'm coming with you," Nick announced, moving to beat Claudia to the glass door, holding it open for her before glancing back at Connor. "You coming?"

The young student shook his head. "Nah. I think I'll pursue a couple of avenues myself."

"Right. I'll see you back here if we find anything."

"Yeah. You do that!" Connor called after them, watching the door close behind them. Turning back to his lap top, he started to tap on the keyboard. "Now, fingers?" stretching out his hands, interlacing his fingers, he bent them backwards until they popped, then shook them out. "Do your stuff."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Connor munched noisily on his apple, his eyes feeling gritty after hours spent on the net. Several emails had put him in touch with someone who was making the Rhino Corp his particular hobby horse, and had more information that anyone about the company and it's movements. On his laptop screen, Connor was working on overlaying a map with points to show creature incursions within the United Kingdom, while overlaying that was another map indicating major company deliveries of electronic components in the last twelves months by Rhino Corp. It was making for a major headache, but it didn't stop the grin that was threatening to split Connor's face in two. Taking a final bite of his apple, he tossed it negligently over his shoulder, the thump and rattle of it finding the rubbish bin an occasion for an air punch and a subdued "Yes!".

Careful to save the information displayed on the screen, he shut it down and folded it up before stuffing it into his satchel. It was time to find Nick.

Glancing around, he was surprised to find it getting dark outside, the hours having flown by without him even noticing the lights coming on in the offices. Beyond his glass walled room, there were few people about and he wandered between the desks, rubbing his face in a dry wash, leaving his hair in a state of disheveled chaos. Lester's office was dark, so he swung right and headed for the lifts. Leaning against the wall, he shut his eyes and must have dozed, the ping of the lift making him jerk awake. Stepping in, he pressed the button for the ground floor, knowing that the information desk would have the answer to his question of where Nick and Claudia would be in the huge building. The floors counted down and eventually the doors opened, the man waiting to enter staring at Connor with a hard look, while the young man sidled past him and out of the lift. If he'd been less preoccupied and more awake, Connor wouldn't have sloped off to the front desk with his feet dragging. He'd have been yelling and running to find someone from security.

Drake punched the buttons for the fifth floor and watched the doors close, his face impassive. It had been relatively easy to get past the front security and into the lifts. Seeing the young student had been a surprise, but as he hadn't lifted his head to look at Drake, Drake decided to let him go.

He glanced at his watch, noting that he had ten minutes to get what he was looking for, and get out before the devices went off. His instructions had been quite explicit. Destroy any evidence they had that incriminated Alex Massey or the Rhino Corporation, then destroy the building, preferably with any witnesses to his arrival or departure. Drake shifted his shoulders within his expensive suit. On his lapel a small piece of metal gleamed and he resisted the urge to run a finger over the tiny scrambler. Any recording equipment within ten feet of him would be scrambled and unidentifiable.

The lift pinged and he stepped out, turning his head left, then right to check the corridor. Finding it empty, he walked towards the unmarked door which he knew concealed the main communications suite for that floor. The door was locked, but a few seconds in the hands of an expert and the door opened, shutting quietly behind him. He searched inside his jacket pocket and found the CD he'd brought with him. Seating himself at a computer console, he opened the DVD drive and inserted the disk. The screen jumped into life and he watched the scrolling screen for several seconds before getting to his feet and leaving the room as stealthily as he'd entered it. A door banged further down the corridor and he ducked into the room opposite, keeping the door open a crack to see who it was.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Connor had reached the information desk after a detour to use the loo, but there was no one on duty, an unusual enough occurrence to make him perk up and take more notice of his surroundings. He looked for the policemen that usually patrolled the front foyer, but they weren't there. He turned full circle, but he appeared to be alone, craning his neck to look upwards at the various balcony's that over hung the huge area. Seeing no movement, he went to the front door, walking through to the pavement outside. Traffic was thin, but still passed by and there was even some foot traffic, despite the drizzle wetting the pavement. Turning on his heel, he went back through the automatic glass doors into the entrance again.

"Hello?" He felt foolish calling out, but the situation was unusual enough that even he wasn't afraid to make a complete tit of himself. Seconds passed but no-one answered, Connor now seriously worried. Walking back to the central information desk, he sidled around the end and approached the desk from the business side, all the while keeping an eye out for anyone and ready to jump away if challenged. Several monitor screens were trying to display areas of the building, but they were all scrambled and jumpy, as if tampered with. Thoroughly alarmed, Connor lifted up the phone on the desk, glad to hear a dial tone, but stumped as to who he should call. The ping of the lift made him jump and he swung around, the phone still held to his head. A man exited the lift and Connor stared at him, his mouth open.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Drake cursed under his breath to see the young bloke still in the reception area, and worse, with a phone to his ear. In a smooth motion, Drake reached into his jacket and pulled his gun out of it's concealed holder. The student was still gaping at him, the phone slowly falling from his lax hand. Drake started to jog towards the front door, leveling the gun and firing off two shots.

zzzzz zzzzz zzzzz

Connor finally awoke to the realisation that he was in danger, the sharp report of the gun echoing off the walls and floor. The bullets missed him by a fraction of an inch, only to knock chips of marble off the desk top and send needles of sharp stone into his face and hands. He dropped to the floor, blinded for a moment. When no more shots whistled over head, he slowly rose up to check the foyer. The man with the gun was gone, the automatic glass doors shutting slowly behind him. The screech of speeding tires from outside wasn't enough to snap him out of his trance, Connor reaching up a slow hand to touch his wounded face. The lift door pinged again and this time he ducked, the patter of feet making him hunker under the desk.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Nick irritated voice was a welcome relief.

"Professor?" Connor's wavering voice brought Nick and Claudia around the desk to see where he was.

"Connor, what happened?" Claudia knelt beside him, reaching out a hand to touch his bleeding face.

"There was this bloke...he looked like the guy...you know?"

"Guy?" Nick asked, frowning.

"The guy! The one who took Abby...that guy." Connor was starting to recover from his near death experience, pushing past Claudia and back onto his feet. "Oh my God, he was here...he shot at me!"

Claudia and Nick exchanged a glance, doubt obvious in their expressions. Connor started to flap his arms, indicating the complete lack of anyone else but them. "He was here, look at this desk, look at my face...where the hell is security?"

"I was wondering that myself," Claudia muttered, sitting herself down at the desk and lifting the phone to dial a number. Getting no response, she tried several others. As she made to get up, the building suddenly rocked, a loud explosion from somewhere above them throwing them all to the ground as billowing smoke poured over the upper balconies and flooded the entrance area. Alarms started to sound, deafening them even as more blasts made the floor shift and seem to rise up, then fall beneath them, keeping them off their feet.

They all three lay stunned and choking in the thick smoke, the distant sound of sirens alerting them that police were arriving, along with the fire brigade and other emergency services. Nick shook his head and crawled over to where Claudia lay. She was coughing as she levered herself upright, and Connor now looked even worse for wear, with blood and dust streaking his face.

"Don't move, get your hands where I can see them!" A voice barked at them, the dark figure of a police officer appearing out of the swirling smoke, others quickly joining him to surround the three on the floor.

"I'm Claudia Marsden of the Home Office, I have my card in my blouse pocket..."

"Take is out slowly, no sudden moves..." the officer instructed, not relaxing his stance. Claudia carefully removed her id card and held it out between her finger tips. The officer snatched it away and scanned it, before handing it to another.

"Right then, Miss Marsden...what happened here?"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Connor sat on the edge of a hospital examination bench and winced. A nurse was dabbing something on the cuts peppering his face, the lotion stinging as it cleaned.

"It was him...I know it," Connor flinched back, the nurse giving him a look until he straightened back up and allowed her to continue. Nick stood with his arms folded across his chest and watched.

"They'll confirm it with the security footage. You were lucky you dodged the bullets."

"I was lucky he couldn't shoot and run," Connor retorted, grimacing when the nurse dabbed a little forcibly at a particular cut. "I suppose he set the bomb as well."

"Not a bomb exactly...more like a series of explosions. Enough to cause some serious damage."

"He tried to kill us...me in particular."

"I'm sure the police will get him, now they know he's in London. This Rhino Corp must feel very threatened to do something this rash." Nick wandered over to the wall and seemed to be inspecting minutely a poster about lungs and asthma. In truth, Nick was trying to hide his worry about what had happened. It was only luck that he and Claudia had taken the lift down to the lobby, otherwise they would have still been on the floor where the explosions did the most damage. And it appeared that dumb luck had saved Connor from being shot by the very man they were trying to track down.

The nurse had finished her ministration and left the cubicle with the treatment trolley, leaving Nick and Connor alone.

"What do we do now?" Connor asked, his voice and manner subdued.

"For now, we go home and regroup. There's little we can do at the Home Office."

"What about Abby...and Stephen?"

"Until we sort this mess out, and find out exactly what we're dealing with, we're stuck doing nothing." Nick glanced over his shoulder at the younger man. "But that doesn't mean we can't explore some of our own leads. You said in the ambulance, coming here, that you had something to show me."

"The map!" Connors face brightened and he grabbed at his canvas satchel, pulling out his lap top and flipping open the lid. "Damn, the battery is low...I need to plug into the mains." He slid off the examination table and rummaged for the mains cable, before plugging it in to the wall. Laying the laptop on the bed, he brought up the layered map he'd created from various sources. "Here, this is it."

Nick peered at the screen, Connor explaining the different meaning of the icons scattered about the surface. "And this," Connor announced with no little triumph in his voice, "is where I reckon they must have gone through, most recently."

"But that's the same place, roughly speaking, where we came through ourselves!"

"I know, that's the beauty of this. I don't think the anomalies are random at all. When I run this algorithm, it only brings up a specific number of possibilities. Including where you and Stephen were found."

"You're saying there's a set pattern to these events?"

"According to this data...yes. But don't you see, with this other overlay, you can see that they follow a definite pattern, the same as the magnetic lines of the Earth."

"How did you find all this to correlate it?" Nick asked, astounded at the young mans powers of deductions.

"Well, it's not exactly new. We already knew that the anomalies were generating some sort of magnetic field...that business with the compass and my pen, for instance. It's not a huge leap to suggest that they follow the lines of magnetism, if you assume they are naturally occurring and not man made."

"Are they natural?" Nick queried, giving Connor his undivided attention.

"I-I don't know that for sure. It's possible they started out as a natural phenomenon. It's also possible they were created by someone, or something tearing a rip in time...I don't know."

"I'd have to say you know a great deal more than any one else here...or anywhere." Nick squeezed Connor's shoulder, the young man beaming under his approbation. "Now, if you can tell me how we can use all this to our advantage...?" Nick looked expectantly at Connor who quailed under his direct gaze.

"Ah...well...that's the thing. I don't know what this Massey, or Rhino Corp might be using to find the anomalies, or maybe create them. Something to detect changes in the Earths magnetic field would be a start."

"And what would you use to scan the Earth's magnetic field, even supposing one could do such a thing?" Nick asked, pushing Connor to think.

"Um...er...Oh!" Connor jumped up, his hands flying over the keyboard. "probably, a satellite array, specifically aimed at the British Isles."

"Does Rhino Corp have any connection to any satellites?" Nick queried, watching Connor's fingers fly over the lap top keyboard. He waited, watching Connor's expression for the answer. At length, the brilliant young student swiveled the lap top around to show his mentor.

"There...they supplied the sensing array for the EU communications satellite, launched only last year. If this Massey knew about the anomalies, he could have had the technology to find them put onto the satellite, it was put together in one of the companies' research plants."

Nick grinned at Connor's flushed, but triumphant face. "Good work. Now all we need to do, is tap into that satellite and find out what it knows, and see if the information ties up with all you've told me."

"Oh... is that all." Connor laughed, breaking the tension and earning him a well deserved pat on the back.

"We need to tell Claudia and Sir James all of this..." Nick looked pointedly at Connor.

"What? Oh yes...I'm fine, really, only a scratch."

"Just a flesh wound...come on then, it's back to the Home Office. Maybe once this plan is put into action, we'll have the edge we need to find Stephen and Abby."

"A bit daunting though..." Connor turned to shut down his lap top and repack it back in his bag. "Even if we manage to locate this Massey, and then manage to use his technology to access an anomaly...how are we going to know when or where he's holding them?"

"Luck and your genius have got us this far Connor, don't give up on it yet."

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tbc...


	17. Ancient Light

18/10/07

Title: Ancient Light

Author: Squeezynz

Authors Note: Back to AR2, although technically venturing into AR4. AR1Stephen was part of a team experimenting with new technology to capture and keep open an anomaly. Before that could be completed, a military force invaded the camp, but AR1Stephen managed to evade them, only to be caught with a dart gun and rendered unconscious before being taken. AR3Nick and the AR2others arrive on the scene to find the camp deserted, with signs that the anomaly capture technology had been used, although the anomaly has now gone. That night, AR3Nick is approached by AR4Helen cutter, looking older than expected, and she lures him to follow her through an anomaly. AR2Abby overhears their conversation and follows. Now read on.

Authors note 2: Still with the story? Congratulations, you deserve a medal.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Abby fell through the flickering portal landing heavily on her knees, moments before tumbling down a steep slope, her body buffeted and bruised until she came to a sudden stop. She lay gasping, the wind knocked out of her, staring up at the bluest sky she'd ever seen.

"Ouch!" Blinking and squinting, she turned her head to look up the slope. The anomaly was no longer there, and there appeared to be no sign of Nick, or Helen either. Groaning to herself, she rolled onto her painful knees then levered herself upright. With a hand at her back, she flexed her spine and rolled her shoulders, feeling every bruise, an especially painful one makings itself known on her bottom. "God, talk about graceful...ow..."

There was no sign of Nick or Helen Cutter and she panicked for a moment, then logic surfaced. Scrambling her way back up the slope, she made a quick search around the anomaly and found footprints leading off down the opposite side of the ridge, and into a thicket. Abby paused before plunging after them, her head turning as she looked at the view from the high vantage point. In the distance, high plumes of volcanic ash rose into the sky, the distant specks of some huge flock wheeling in the sky while closer to the ridge, the shimmer of silver water reflected the sun back at her, making her squint. Turning her back on the vista, she set off down the slope, the distant rumble and quiver of an earthquake giving her pause. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to set her heart racing, and create small avalanches of pebbles bouncing around her feet. She stood immobile, until the earth stopped moving, then set off again. The footprints led into the dense vegetation and Abby plunged in after them. She had no idea what period she was in, what era or epoch, only that ahead of her were answers to what had happened to Stephen.

She hadn't gone far when a hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. With her heart in her mouth, she found herself face to face with a very angry Nick Cutter.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Nick...professor...I had to come. I overheard you...and I thought...that is..."

"You thought you might find Stephen here?"

Abby nodded. Some of the anger left Cutter's features, but he still frowned heavily at her.

"Have you any idea what danger you've put yourself in?"

"Well, you have too?" Abby argued, glancing around at the strange foliage around them. "Do you know where...what time we're in?"

"Not yet. It's not the Permian, and I'm sincerely hoping it's not anywhere in the Mesozoic"

"Mesozoic?"

"Think Jurassic Park before and after. Not a time any humans could survive very long in."

Abby gulped, images of raptors and t-rex making her edge closer to Nick. He didn't seem to notice her unease, his eyes sweeping over the vegetation and the ground around them.

"As Helen seems quite comfortable in the surroundings, I'm assuming it's later. Probably somewhere in the Cenozoic period, maybe the Pliocene epoch or later. Hard to tell without a creature to pin point exactly."

"So, no great big reptiles to decide we're a meal?"

"No dinosaurs, if that's what you're worried about. Plenty of mammal predators to worry about, and still reptiles to keep clear of, but no t-rex."

"Well that's a relief," Abby's shoulders slumped and she smiled. "So what now?"

"Now I go and find my wife, and you go back to the anomaly and go home."

"What?"

"It's too dangerous Abby, I have no weapons, no provisions...I can't protect you."

"Who said I needed protecting?"Abby retorted, "I'm not an idiot. As you said yourself, if your wife can survive here, so can we."

Nick regarded her eager face for a moment, before returning her smile. "Alright, we'll carry on. But I warn you, Helen is not going to be best pleased to find you here." He started walking, Abby hitching the pack on her back and following. They pushed through the thicket and out the other side, finding themselves bordering a broad plain, the grass at the edge scraggly and thin, but soon turning into a lush ocean of grass that moved with the wind like waves on the sea. Nick saw something flashing off in the distance and set off in that direction.

Within half an hour they stood gaping at a dozen or more anomalies, all of them floating just above the grass like mini stars, their fractured edges rotating lazily while their bright centers sparkled.

"A nexus," Nick breathed, doing a swift count and coming up with seventeen anomalies spaced around him. Abby just stood open mouthed, her eyes wide. "This must have been what Stephen saw."

"What did Stephen see?" Abby asked.

"When he followed Helen one time, he described a rolling tundra with dozens of anomalies, and no way of knowing which one Helen had come through. It was lucky they chose the right one for themselves to come back through as it was."

"Pick a door, any door..." Abby muttered, turning slowly around and staring. "Which one do we choose?"

"None. I'm not risking getting myself lost for a third time." Even as he watched, one of the anomalies faded out of sight, only to be replaced by three more popping into existence. "Good God, this is incredible."

"Why here, why are they gathered here?" Abby asked, keeping close to Nick. She felt her hand being taken as Nick slowly backed them away from the revolving anomalies.

"I think we should keep our distance. If one should appear right on top of us, we may not be given the choice to stay or go." He pulled her steadily away until they were some distance away on a small rise. They stood and watched the brightly sparkling portals, some of them winking out of existence, only to be replaced by others, all of them staying in roughly the same place.

"Do you see Abby?" Nick asked, pointing to the nexus. "Do you see how they are moving, revolving around the center in a clockwise motion. It's slow, but it's there, do you see?"

Abby concentrated, and saw what he meant. "I think so. What does it mean?"

"No idea, except that it could have some bearing on where you get taken, depending on where the anomaly is in the pattern of rotation. If I had the time, and a whole mess of markers, we could have a crack at mapping this. Wouldn't that be something?"

"That would take years. We don't have years."

"No, you're right, we don't. And if would seem we are at a dead end. I can't see any sign of where Helen went, and I'm not about to just pick a random anomaly and hope for the best."

"Then we go back?"

"We have no choice." Nick sighed, as frustrated at their situation as Abby. They turned to go, but Abby happened to glance back, immediately tugging Nick down into the long grass to hide them.

"Look!" She hissed. Peering through the grass stems, they saw a man in army fatigues exit one of the anomalies. He held a device in his hand, a bit like a Geiger counter, swinging it around at the anomalies as if searching for something. He kept glancing up then down at the device, before shaking his head and turning back to enter the anomaly he'd appeared from, disappearing in a flash of light.

Nick and Abby exchanged a look before taking off down the slope and coming to a halt in front of the one the man had just left through.

"Are we going through?" Abby asked, breathless from the run and nervous excitement.

"This is our best chance to find out what's going on, and your last chance to go back."

Abby laced her hand with his and gave him a grim smile. Nick grinned back then tugged her forward, the pair of them marching right into the anomaly and whatever lay beyond it.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Stephen groaned, his eyelids too heavy to open. He recognised the effects of a large dose of anaesthetic and tried to open his eyes again. Wherever he was, it was dark, the effort to open his eyes too much so he closed them again. Licking his lips, he tried to swallow but his throat was too dry. A twinge from his shoulder reminded him why he was in this state. Someone had used a dart gun on him. He was laying on a metal floor, his clothes long since dried on him. When he banged his hand against the floor it sounded hollow and he surmised he was in some sort of container or maybe the back of a truck. It took a monumental effort, but he managed to roll himself onto his side, panting as his head swum. Whatever they used on him, it had been a big dose, probably better suited for a mature lion or small rhino, than a human being. He drew in deep breaths in an attempt to clear his head, using his arms to lever himself upright, the effort almost making him pass out, nausea rolling over him in waves. Not wanting to puke, he drew his knees up and rested his aching head on them. When he felt better he reached out his arm to find out how big his prison was, his elbow connecting with one wall, while the other was beyond his reach. Easing himself back, he leant against the wall, grateful to have something to lean against. His next attempt to open his eyes was more successful, the former dark not appearing quite so absolute, a small patch half way up one wall looking lighter by the second. He was thankful for even that, as it ruled out blindness, something that he'd feared when he'd first woken up. As he sat awkwardly propped against the wall, the light grew stronger and he worked out he was in the back of a van, the ever increasing light outside revealing it's bleak and comfortless features.

He was thirsty, still groggy, but he was alive. Lifting his hand, he banged it against the wall behind him, keeping up a steady rhythm until his strength gave out. A few minutes later he started again, his circulation picking up as the drugging effects of the dart started to dissipate along with the nausea. His banging produced the desired effect when someone banged back on the other side and told him to shut the hell up. The same someone was now fumbling at the back door, unlocking it prior to swinging it open, light flooding the van and making Stephen shield his eyes.

For a moment jailer and captive eyed each other, the guard moving first, the gun in his hand waving at Stephen to get out of the van.

Swallowing on his dry throat, Stephen used the wall as a support, getting himself on his feet before staggering out of the van, falling when his feet hit the ground. The guard was quicker and managed to keep him from landing on his face, supporting him until the world stopped spinning and Stephen found his feet again.

As soon as he reckoned his prisoner was once more stable, the guard removed his support and stood back, covering Stephen with his hand gun.

Blinking at the morning light, Stephen stared at the trees crowding around the van parked in the middle of the wood. They looked odd, but he couldn't focus his mind to pinpoint what was wrong with them.

"Let's move." His guard ordered, the man waving the gun again and indicating for Stephen to walk ahead of him.

Using the side of the van for support, Stephen walked forward, each step stronger than the last, until he was able to walk reasonably normally, despite his befuddled brain and occasional stagger. The van had been parked some way from a collection of marquees and tents spread out among the trees. As he approached, he saw a line of metal poles with lights on top, apparently surrounding the camp. He wondered if they were some sort of perimeter defense or warning system, but he wasn't given time to linger, a barked order to keep moving from behind, forcing him onward. By the time he reached the first tent he was at the limit of his weakened state, swaying when his guard told him to stop and wait. Blinking in the bright morning light, he tried to take in what was going on around him, but his vision was going blurry and he didn't think he'd be able to stand up much longer. Just as he felt his knees give out, several figures appeared from the tent, one of them catching his body as it fell, lowering him to the forest floor even as others hovered around.

Stephen tried to speak, but his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth and felt ten times its normal size. Whoever had caught him, was shouting at his men to fetch a medic, water and a stretcher, in that order. He felt the cool rim of a cup held to his mouth and he sucked at the water greedily.

"Easy Mister Hart, don't want it all to come straight back up again. I told you that dose was too large for a man, you fool. You could have killed him."

Stephen lay on the ground, his head pillowed by someones jacket, and just listened, his eyes closed. It was useful to play helpless sometimes, and he really was still suffering the effects of the tranquilizer, just not as badly as he made out. He felt himself lifted and put on a yielding surface, then being carried across the compound and into another tent. After being dumped onto a cot, he was left for a few moments before a cool hand tested his forehead and held his wrist.

"Pulse is steady and there's no temperature. He just needs to flush that stuff out of his system and he'll be okay." Stephen heard the verdict of the medic and silently concurred, but he wasn't about to jump up confirm it.

"We'll leave you to recover Mister Hart. I'll return in two hours." He sensed someone bending over him and kept his eyes firmly glued shut. Only after the presence left, along with the medic, did he lift his lashes a fraction to survey his new surroundings. Canvas walls greeted his perusal, light diffused through the fabric and illuminating the interior. The cot was comfortable and a vast improvement on the metal floor of the van, Stephen congratulating himself on this change of circumstances, at least for the time being. He had two hours before he would be expected to have recovered, two hours for him to try and sort out who had him and how he could escape.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Nick and Abby crouched down behind a tree and tried to make sense of what they were seeing. They were several meters from the outer perimeter of a small tent town, men with guns and wearing camouflage gear walking back and forth between them.

"Where are we now?" Abby asked, staring up at the towering trees and listening to the raucous bird life audible all around them.

"Not sure, but it's obviously somewhere relatively friendly to humans, or this lot wouldn't be here." Nick narrowed his eyes to focus better, seeing movement at one of the tents. A man and a woman appeared, walking side by side across the heavily trodden ground toward a another tent. They disappeared inside and Nick sat back on his haunches. At least he now knew where his wife was. He didn't recognise the man, but that was hardly surprising. He saw several men grouped around a particular area off to the side, and angled himself to see better what they were up to. He could see some sort of contraption suspended between two stout trees, the small group of men approaching the rig and pointing something at it. At once, an anomaly started to appear, only as a pinpoint at first, but growing stronger each second, pulsating until it reached it's full size, then holding steady.

"Did I just see them create a anomaly?" Abby's hiss sounded close to his ear. He didn't bother to turn around, but answered her.

"Yes. It seems that someone has found a way to create them. How and why is what I want to know?"

Even as they looked, the men around the anomaly were preparing a metal cage, baiting the trap with meat before standing back, long poles held in their hands. The cage was very big, and very substantial, obviously intended for a creature of some size. One of the men was holding a device they'd seen before, pointing it towards the anomaly then lifting his arm to signal for the others to get ready. The anomaly started to flicker and something came through, the creature launching itself into the cage which snapped shut behind it. At once the creature turned on its tail to escape, but it was too late, it was trapped. The cage rocked as it battered itself against the bars, the men standing well back with the long poles pointed towards the creature in readiness. As the creature continued it's frenzied efforts, one of the men extended his reach and touched the pole to the animal, a shower of sparks and a bright flash making the animal scream and throw itself backwards away from the men with poles.

"Bastards.." Nick muttered, his teeth clenched. Abby was behind him with her hand over her mouth to stop herself crying out. As they watched, the men slid metal panels along the length of the crate, effectively shutting the animal in and away from them, while they maneuvered the crate away from the anomaly and behind the row of tents.

"What are they going to do with it?" Abby asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No idea. But whatever they plan to do, that animal doesn't belong here, in this time."

"Did you recognise it? It looked a little like a leopard...but so much bigger."

"An early version of one of the big cats I imagine."

"Not a sabre tooth?"

"No. Not a Smilodon, but something along those lines. A predator, which ever way you look at it."

"What are we going to do, we can't sit out here forever?"

"I came to follow my wife, Helen. I saw her before, over there. She wanted me to follow, so I'm going to show myself. You stay here, and see if you can snoop around some of these tents. Try to avoid being seen for as long as possible. Okay?"

Abby looked at him doubtfully, but nodded her head. She stayed by the tree, while Nick circled around the tents to get closer to the one he'd seen Helen enter. Judging himself close enough, he made a performance of approaching the campsite, several men running over to point guns at him and calling for him to halt. With everyone's attention on Nick, Abby managed to reach the closest tent without being noticed. Careful not to trip on the guy ropes, she darted across to the next tent after a quick lift of the canvas revealed the first to be lined with cots and personal belongings.

Nick was being escorted by a large crowd of gun wielding men, his hand held firmly above his head after one of the men gave him a rough check over for hidden weapons.

"Hands on your head and walk forward!" He was ordered, Nick complying with a wry smile at their rather over reaction to his appearance. The hullabaloo had brought others out of the tents to witness his arrival, Nick catching a matching wry smile on Helen's face as she waited beside a man who was obviously the leader of the mercenaries. Again, he couldn't help but notice how much older Helen appeared, from the liberal sprinkling of silver threads in her hair, to the lines that had deepened beside her mouth and corners of her eyes. She looked like she'd aged nearly twenty years since he'd last seen her, a possibility that worried him, deeply.

From her vantage point, hidden behind a tent, Abby watched Nick approach his wife while surrounded by armed men. She remained where she was and watched, until the sound of ripping material drew her attention to the next tent along. She saw the blade of a knife appear, slitting the canvas like a hot knife through butter. Bemused, she saw a long, jean clad leg come out, followed by an equally lean body followed by a tousled head. Unable to contain herself, she darted across the small space between the tents.

Stephen had heard the hubbub outside and decided it was as good a time as any, to make his escape. Checking his boot, he found the small knife he kept in it, and drew it out. Carefully, he slit an opening in the wall behind his bed and stepped through. A scuffle nearby made him twist to see what it was, his boot catching in the bottom of the cut canvas and making him reel. At the same time, a small feminine body catapulted itself towards him, Abby having tripped on a guy rope and, unable to stop herself, pitched forward. They met in a collision of arms and legs, ending up in a heap on the ground, the knife knocked from Stephen's hand and out of harms way. For a second they lay winded on the damp ground, then Abby scrambled up at the same time that Stephen scooted back and rolled to his feet.

"Stephen!"

"Abby!"

The small gap between them was bridged in a heartbeat, Abby plastering herself to his front, while his arms kept her locked against him.

"Oh my God, but you're alright...we feared you'd been killed or worse!"

"What's worse than being killed?" Stephen joked, unable to stop a grin breaking out on his face.

"We thought you must have been shot!" Abby loosened her death grip on him, and instead started to pat him down, looking for injuries. Stephen loosened his hold on her and captured her frantic hands.

"I'm fine...a little woozy from the tranquilizer, but basically okay. Hey, that tickles."

Abby stopped her search and collapsed against him again, relief at his wellbeing making her teary.

"We didn't know what to think...and then Helen came to Nick..."

"Helen! What did she want? Is she connected to all this?" Stephen pushed Abby away and held her at arms length, his stare unwavering.

"She's here, in this camp...right now. So is Nick...we came to see what she wanted, and to find out what happened to you...we both did." She tossed her head to get her fringe out of her eyes, her gaze never leaving his.

After a second he relaxed, letting go of her arms and tilting his head back to stare at the green canopy above their heads. Abby stood still, her arms lifting to cross protectively over her chest.

A sound behind them made them both duck back to the tent wall and the pitiful cover it afforded.

"We have to get away from here," Stephen said, his head turning to access the best place to hide them. "When I say move, run to that tree and crouch down behind it...got it?"

"Of course. What are you going to do?"

"I'll meet you there in a second...go!" He pushed her to get her moving, Abby only taking a few seconds to cover the ground to the tree and do as he instructed. Stephen edged to the corner and peered around, seeing a tableau of figures standing about some distance away, still surrounded by most of the soldiers in the camp. Returning to the sliced canvas, he ducked back inside, then stripped the bed of it's blankets, took the bottle of water beside the bed before leaving and rescuing his knife from the ground. Then he joined Abby behind the tree. He relieved her of the back pack and stuffed the blankets inside along with the water. Still apparently unnoticed by anyone in the camp, he led the way further into the woods, beyond the line of perimeter markers until there were too many trees, between them and the camp, to see the tents.

While they rested, Abby filled Stephen in on what had happened to her and Nick, about the nexus of anomalies, about the soldiers creating then closing one, and how they'd captured a creature through one. She also told him what she'd heard Helen tell Nick, plus the state of the camp when they arrived and found him gone.

"When we saw the bullet holes in the tent walls...we...well, we thought you must have been killed, along with the others."

"Take more than a handful of mercenaries to kill me off, Abby."

"Didn't stop them using a dart gun on you, did it."

"Nope. And that tells us they wanted me alive, but for what, and under who's orders, I don't know."

The distant sound of shouted orders permeated the forest. Stephen tugged Abby to her feet and they set off.

"Do you think you can take me to the anomaly you came through?"

"If it's still there," Abby replied, "but what about Nick?"

"Helen wanted him to follow her, and he did. But if we stay here, we could be used to force Nick to do something he wouldn't normally do...so we remove the lever, and Nick is better placed to find out exactly what Helen is up to. Obviously this group move back and forth between the time lines, so we can do the same."

"But they had some sort of device, some sensory thingy to tell them what anomaly to go through."

"Which is just what our techies were working on too..." A distant roar made him pause, Stephen's head turning to find the source of the noise. Abby stood tensely beside him, her eyes darting back and forth as she searched for the source of the roar. It sounded again, closer and to their right, along with a great deal of crashing as if something huge was moving through the undergrowth, with scant regard for the vegetation.

"Nick said there were no dinosaurs in this period..." Abby whispered, her eyes fixed on the trees up ahead.

"No. Nick said there were no dinosaurs in the time you were in before...you haven't been here long enough to figure out which period we're in now." Stephen corrected, starting to walk backwards towards the base of one of the larger trees, his arm out flung to steer Abby along the same course.

"But surely..." Abby started to say, only to gasp and clap her hands over her mouth as an ear splitting roar sounded close by, followed by more snapping and crunching of vegetation as the creature, as yet unseen, powered through the smaller saplings and dense thickets. Shouts and gun fire could be heard from the direction of the camp, Stephen bailing Abby up against the trunk of the tree behind him, his senses all on the alert as they still couldn't see what was making the noise.

Abby's hand was clutching at his sleeve, her blue eyes huge in her face as she peered around his shoulder for a better look. From the amount of gunfire, it appeared a battle was raging around the tents, with the occasional human scream making her want to bury her head against his jacket.

"Oh Stephen, what are we going to do? What about Nick?"

"Right now, we're doing nothing until we know what we're dealing with. Nick is as safe as he's ever going to be behind all those men and guns. I'm more worried in case they drive it this way." He turned his head to scan the area beyond their tree. "It's possible whatever that is, came through the same anomaly you did. Can you tell how far away it is, from here?"

Abby swallowed and traced the route she and Nick had taken in her mind-eye. "It should be somewhere..." she pointed in front of them, roughly in the direction the roar had first come from. "Over there...more or less. It wasn't that far from the camp, only about five minutes or so."

"Then we'll head for that and hope whatever came through, doesn't decide to return home too quickly. Come on." He grasped her hand in his and they set off through the knee high undergrowth, all the while listening to the sporadic gun fire still sounding from behind them. There had been no more roars for several minutes, and Stephen hoped that the soldiers had killed whatever had attacked them. Up ahead he could see the sparkle of the anomaly between the tree trunks, the sight lending incentive to his legs as they ran towards it. "Nearly there Abby...nearly there!"

A bellowing roar from close by made him suddenly drop to the ground, pulling Abby down beside him. The ground trembled underneath them as a huge creature approached their meager hiding place. Abby was shaking so hard she thought her teeth would rattle, her fear making it impossible for her to lift her head and see what it was. Their hiding place was little more than low brush, barely adequate to do more than disguise their outlines. Stephen gathered her close and held her, sure that their luck had finally run out. The creature was close, the sound of its harsh breathing making it appear to be on top of them. He held his breath, his heart hammering as he waited for the creature, whatever it was, to discover them.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	18. Ancient Light2

25/10/07

Title: Ancient Light

Author: Squeezynz

Authors Note: Carries straight on from chapter 17 – set in AR2, although technically venturing into AR4. AR1Stephen and AR2Abby are attempting to escape from AR4. AR3Nick has allowed himself to be caught by AR4Helen, as she was expecting him, and to draw attention away from Abby while she searched the camp. None of them know what period/era/epoch they are in, as yet.

Authors Note Pt.2: apologies for the long wait(a month in fact) – real life has been biting hard.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The first shot had frozen everyone in their place, Nick noting that he appeared to be the only person without a weapon. Even Helen had drawn a pistol from her pocket, the gun held unwaveringly steady as they all waited. A flurry of shots and shouts spurred them all into action. Helen, grabbed at Nick's jacket and started to pull him away from the battle taking place beyond the trees.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Nick shouted, Helen's grip on his arm surprisingly unshakable. The sound of a sizable creature roaring and the gunfire was making conversation difficult.

"Somewhere you can't get either eaten or shot." Helen replied tersely, pulling him towards a particularly substantial tree. On the far side was a cable lift connected to a truck mounted winch, designed to haul the mesh frame high up into the canopy. Helen pushed Nick into the cage before turning the ignition on in the truck to provide power to the winch. She toggled the winch and the cable started to draw the cage upwards, Helen only just jumping aboard before it rose too high.

"A little trick we borrowed from Jurassic Park," she explained, gripping the side of the open cage as they swung on the cable, the mesh platform now above the height of a two story house.

Nick looked down in wry amusement. "What about the others?" From their vantage point they could still see surprisingly little, only follow the sound of the roars of whatever beast the men were firing at, far below them.

"They're able to take care of themselves. There's not much that gets past their automatic weapons."

"And your boyfriend?" Nick needled, both of them grabbing for support at the cable lift stopped with a jolt, leaving them swinging slowly among the branches.

"Cheap shot Nick. He's not my boyfriend, not even close...in fact not even a friend."

"Then who is he, and why are you with him?" Helen had her back to him, so he reached out and pulled her around with his hand on her shoulder. "What is this, Helen? What is going on here?"

"His name is Alex Massey. To put it simply, he's a big game hunter with a killer ambition."

"Big game? You mean dinosaurs?"

"I mean, he's a man with more money than any one else in the world, with more resources and access to technology than anyone you can think of, and practically fearless."

"So he's a rich, big game hunter with fancy toys." Nick stated, folding his arms across his chest. The gun fire from below was becoming sporadic, and he hoped that Abby was somewhere safe. A distant roar confirmed that despite the arsenal against it, the creature, whatever it was, had survived the lethal barrage. He smiled, then sobered. Helen was looking away from him again, her hands braced on the side of the rail. "What is going on here Helen, what threat does a big game hunter pose to the future?"

Helen turned her head to look at him. "Eight years ago, when I first went missing, the anomalies were just that...one off events, with no connection to anything we could explain or predict. You yourself could give several instances, evidence that they had occurred in the distant past. Instances that could account for how different species from different times somehow ended up in places they shouldn't."

"But you were the one who believed it," Nick interrupted. "I never considered something as outlandish as time travel as the culprit."

"Neither did I. Until I found that first anomaly. Only I wasn't the first to find them. Alex Massey was the first...or at least the first to see the potential for their use, and the scope of time travel." The gunfire below had all but stopped, leaving them swinging gently among the whispering leaves, the sounds of insects and bird life all around them. "Alex was already a seasoned traveler between the doorways...without him, I would have carried on stumbling through portals until I got eaten or fell through one into a glacier or worse." The crackle of a radio interrupted her, Helen finding the small receiver in her pocket and thumbing it's button. "I'm in the cage," she reported to the crackly inquiry from the radio. "Is it clear?" The reply came quickly and in the negative. "Let me know when it's safe to descend." She toggled the off switch and tucked the small device back into her pocket.

"One of the portals led me to Alex. I'm not sure who was more surprised, him or me. He had only beaten me by a few months, but had already started to develop technology to harness the energy needed to power an anomaly, to make them appear at his will."

"We saw a demonstration..." Nick broke off, cursing himself for the slip. Helen turned her head to stare at him.

"We? Who else is here?"

"Nobody...a slip of the tongue," he shrugged, but Helen only narrowed her eyes.

"Whoever they are had better be a long way from here by now. Alex had very specific plans, and a ruthless streak that brooks no interference from non-combatants." She started to pull the radio out of her pocket, but Nick stopped her with his own hand around her wrist.

"There's nobody to worry about Helen...as you say, they'll be long gone..." he mentally kicked himself again when Helen's sharp intellect put two and two together and arrived at five.

"You didn't come here to see me...you came to rescue Stephen!" Her gaze narrowed, "whoever you brought through with you, is here to get him out..." he could see her turning over the possibilities. "Not likely to be the geek, and I doubt you told your lover about seeing me, you didn't have the time." Helen wrenched her hand free and snapped her fingers. "That blond bit...the girl...she's here with you...I'm right, aren't I!?" Thumbing the radio, she spoke rapidly into it, detailing what she'd learnt. The radio operator on the other end confirmed that Stephen was missing, and a search would be started for the runaways.

"You didn't need to do that Helen...who's side are you on?"

"Mine...Stephen was my surety, my 'get out of jail' card. Now you've gone and stuffed it up...he'll never believe I didn't orchestrate all this...damn!"

"What has happened to you? You said, back at the camp, that you needed me to come with you to save the future, all our futures. Don't you think I've earnt the right to have an explanation?"

"What I think, Nick...is no longer important. As for the future? I've seen it. You don't want to know what's there. You've seen the future predator?" She waited for Nick to nod his head. "Then you know the future is no place for the human race. We had our time on the planet, now it's over. If you ever get back to your own time line, you'll find it vastly different from how you left it, and not just because your precious Claudia Brown is waiting for you to reappear."

"What's happened Helen? You obviously know something important, what is it?"

"I suppose I should really tell you. After all, you are the only one of the Nick Cutters that could understand..." Helen tapped her chin, looking her husband up and down in a considered way. "It's all to do with loops in time. When you finally got your first glimpse of an anomaly, and went through, you found my camp...as I intended you to. You found the camera, the grave and the skeleton. That was the future Nick...you had traveled to a place that you had created in the past, but was also in your future. When you visited the same place, months later, with the future predator, you were the one who created the whole time loop in the first place. You never realised, after that first trip, that you had already returned to the wrong time...what you thought was home, was, in fact, another time line. It was so close to your own, the differences were imperceptible."

"But I saw you, out in the car park...it was you."

"A visitor from your past Nick. A past you had already visited in the future. Everything that happened from there on in, had already happened...I just nudged it along, when I felt your enthusiasm flag."

"How are you so sure that I'm the right Nick Cutter?"

"Because you were tagged that first visit through the anomaly. The whole team were tagged with a wonderful piece of new technology Alex Massey created. The only way I can describe it, is to liken it to the way they paint targets for aircraft to zero in on. When you came through that time, I was waiting for you, though you never saw me. Once I had you tagged, I could find you whatever time line you ended up in."

"Those boxes I saw one of the men use when he came through the anomaly, looks like a Geiger counter?"

"Crude, but effective. It can lead us through the right anomaly, into the right time. Your theory about them appearing in the same place was correct, which means we just have to tag something on the other side, and the detectors read it."

"Like a sign on the door." Nick looked suitably awestruck at the implications. Helen smiled thinly as she watched the wheels turn in his head. Nick raised his head, "how many are there?"

"Thousands Nick. The nexus you came through is only one of hundreds. Without Alex Massey, I would have been wandering for years, maybe forever, before finding my way back to my own time."

"So this Alex Massey, he's been traveling between times, collecting trophies?"

Helen quirked her lips in a little smile. "Pretty much."

"And he has a way of predicting these...portals?"

"To within a probability of eighty five percent accuracy."

Nick whistled his appreciation. "He's proved it?"

"Time and time again...if you'll excuse the pun. He's gathered a small army of support people, some for security, some for expertise. It's a huge business now."

"Business?" Nick looked incredulous. "You're saying he sell the past as a...game preserve?"

"Again, pretty much. Only there are hidden drawbacks...hidden risks."

"You look older Helen..."

"How very unkind of you to notice Nick," Helen gave him an arch look, her hand raising to self consciously push back loose strands of hair from her face. "A side effect of the many trips I've made back and forth between worlds...traveling through time is a bitch."

"Why Helen? Why not settle in one time?"

"Tried that Nick...I'm not cut out for domesticity, you know that. I'm not your average woman – I crave more than what our small world has to offer. I had taken what I wanted from yours..."

"Stephen..." Nick said under his breath.

"Yes...such a sweet boy...I figured after that, there was little to hold me after I tired of him. And once I connected with Alex Massey...well, there wasn't anywhere barred to me. I could continue my own research into whatever took my fancy, for as long as I wanted, in any time that I wanted."

The radio crackled into life and Helen answered it. She was given the all clear, and instantly thumbed the remote to restart the winch to lower the cage. Nick reached out to stay her hand, but she snatched it away.

"Why did you want me out here Helen?"

"To learn what I know Nick."

Nick waited for her to continue, but Helen remained mute. "Is that all?"

"You expected more?" Helen toggled the winch control and the cage started it's slow descent to the forest floor. "Maybe I'm tired of keeping the secret and wanted to share."

Nick shook his head, once more flummoxed by the women he thought he knew. "And Stephen. What's his place in this drama?"

"He's the best tracker I know. Alex only likes the best, Stephen, in any time, is always a safe bet."

"But you said he's been doing this for years...why now, why Stephen?"

"Ah..." Helen glanced coyly at Nick, an eyebrow arched. "Alex has had some difficulties keeping some of his staff...alive. We go through more trackers...or should I say...Stephens, than I care to think about." The cage arrived on the ground with a heavy thump, jolting them both.

Nick starred at Helen in horror. "Helen...for Gods sake, tell me you don't mean what I think you mean?"

Her face impassive, Helen Cutter turned to her husband and raked him from head to toe. "I do what I need to survive. If that means sacrificing someone else...so be it." Climbing out of the cage, she didn't look back at Nick.

Unable to bear looking at the woman he'd once loved, Nick stayed where he was. Men were appearing out from among the trees, all of them carrying guns. Helen switched off the engine of the truck and stood beside it. Nick slowly stepped out of the cage and walked away from her, back towards the direction of the camp. The armed men parted before him, looking enquiringly at Helen, who waved them away, before following Nick at a distance.

Zzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzz

Stephen felt the ground vibrate under the weight of the creature bearing down on them. It was moving at speed, heedless of the saplings and bushes in its race to return through the anomaly. Abby was pressed up against his side, her head buried in her arms, his own wrapped around her protectively, although that was likely to be moot if they were trampled by whatever the men had been shooting at. Lifting his head, he risked a glance upward and felt the blood freeze in his veins.

There had been a good reason for avoiding anywhere that fell within the Mesozoic era, and if he'd had to bet his life on it, he would have placed them more likely in the Cenozoic era, but the flesh eating dinosaur that was quickly approaching their pitiful hiding place, was something he'd expect to see flagged for the Jurassic rather than the Paleocene period. The reptile breathing down their necks was big, standing unsteadily on it's hind legs as it staggered to a halt, a mouthful of sharp, rending teeth easily visible as it gaped to catch a breath. It stood barely ten feet from where they lay, and he was sure that in other circumstances it would have been on them in the blink of an eye, but luck was on the side of the mammals this day, not the dinosaurs. It's mottled hide was peppered with numerous bleeding wounds, blood streaming down it's flank, it's long, thick tail sending a spray of blood splattering the leaves and trees with each agitated swing. With a bellow that made his innards quiver, Stephen watched the creature lurch back into motion and careen off into the trees, straight for the sparkling anomaly and relative safety just out of sight.

Letting out a breath he'd not realised he was holding, Stephen turned on his side and pulled Abby into his body. "We're safe...it's gone... Abby? Did you hear me?"

"You're not just saying that?" Her muffled voice preceded her slowly raising her head to confirm his words. "It's really gone?"

"Really, truly...but I'm afraid it took the anomaly with it. We're stuck here, for the time being."

Abby raised her tousled blond head higher, scanning all around, pausing to listen, confirming the truth that the threat to their lives was indeed gone. In abject relief at their deliverance, she fell back on Stephen's chest and clutched him tightly.

"God...I was so scared...I don't think I'll stop shaking for a week."

Stephen sat up, pulling her up with him. A quick check showed that they were truly alone, with no sign that the men from the camp were pursuing the creature, nor yet looking for them.

"I'd love to let you keep doing what you're doing, but we need to find somewhere better to hide."

Abby looked up to find Stephen grinning down at her. "What?" She suddenly realised that in her haste to reassure herself that both she and Stephen were in one piece, she'd burrowed her hands under his clothes and currently had her hands full of warm, human skin. Taking advantage, she shifted her fingers and dragged them over his ribs, her tickling making him squirm and capture her arms to stop her.

"Abby!" Dragging her hands out from under his shirt, he held them in front of him and tried to stop the laughter bubbling up inside him. They were nowhere near safe, but at that moment he wanted to just roll her under him and kiss her senseless. "I'll get you for that later..." Feeling unbearable tense and jumpy, he let her go and they scrambled to their feet. The forest around them was strangely quiet after the gunfire and departure of the dinosaur. The birds were silent so only the wind could be heard, soughing through the canopy and rattling branches against each other. "Come on...let's get closer to where that anomaly appeared."

Abby hung back, her former bravado evaporated. "What if another of those comes through?"

"We'll find somewhere safe...trust me." Lacing his fingers with hers, he led them forward, away from the direction of the camp towards where he'd seen the anomaly glittering through the trees.

Abby glanced back, wondering what Nick was doing; if he needed their help. She was also intensely curious as to what the camp and the whole situation was all about. She was almost tempted to try and persuade Stephen that they should stay and find out what they could, but she remembered his reasoning, and had to agree that they would more likely prove a liability, than an advantage. And there was the still worrying reason, as to why Stephen had been taken in the first place. Abby considered it a minor miracle they had found him at all.

Keeping her ears open and eyes peeled, she followed Stephen deeper into the trees, her hand held firmly and trustingly in his.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

tbc...


	19. Chapter Review

**updated 24/11/07**

**Author's Note **

Okay, time for another chapter recap: (last one was at Ch.13)As we are now into some convoluted territory, and you're quite probably scratching your heads again and wondering what the heck is what, which way is up and who is with whom! I've listed the chapters again, and a brief synopsis to keep you on track. So pay attention:-

Chapter - Title - Setting - Synopsis

Ch.1 – _**Hard Light**_ – end of ep:6(also known as Alternative Reality One – AR1)AR3Nick returns and asks "where's Claudia?" then AR3Nick and AR1Stephen are sucked into the anomaly. AR1Abby copes.

Ch.2 – _**Harsh Light**_ - AR1 – AR3Nick and AR1Stephen survive on the other side. AR1Abby visits AR1Stephen's flat._(skip to Ch:8)_

Ch.3 – _**Splintered Light**_ -AR2 – AR3Nick and AR1Stephen are returned to the wrong time, where AR2Abby and AR2Connor meet them for the first time and learn about anomalies.

Ch.4 – _**Diffused Light**_ - AR2 – AR1Stephen settles in with AR2Abby.

Ch.5 – _**Diffused Light**_ – AR2 – AR3Nick and the AR2Claudia get cozy and very close.

Ch.6 – _**Diffused Light**_ – AR2 – AR2Connor messes up and gets knocked out in Swinley Forest chasing a creature and looking for an anomaly.

Ch.7 – _**Oblique Light **_– AR2 – Back to the Stabby, then they dig AR2Connor out of the hole he's in.

Ch.8 –_** Neon Light**_ – AR2(first half of Ch.) - AR3Nick finds out about AR2Connor's side trip and Lester lays down the law. _(skip to Ch:13)_ - (second half of Ch.8 is back to AR1)AR2Nick and Stephen are found in AR1 and not in the best of health.

Ch.9 – _**Neon Light **_– AR1 – AR2Nick and Stephen recover and are brought up to date by AR1Abby and Connor, who they meet for the first time. AR1Claudia, unknown to them all (refer to "Where's Claudia?") is introduced.(see clarification for Claudia next)

**Claudia Brown**. In AR1, she is not known by AR1Stephen, Abby or Connor, but she does work for the Home Office, (see Ch.11.) In AR2, she again is not known by AR1Stephen, or AR2 Abby and Connor, but she's knows of, although not personally, AR2Nick and Stephen and their work and knows about the anomalies while working for the Home office, (see Ch.5.) In AR1 she is actually known as Claudia Marsden(nee Brown) and recently divorced from her husband.(Ch.11) AR3 Claudia(see Nick below for clarification) is still in another time line and probably mourning the loss of AR3Nick.(but I'm not going there – way, way too complicated)

**Nick cutter** – In AR1, the Nick that asks "Where's Claudia?" is not the right Nick Cutter for that time line, he's in fact from AR3(the tv series before the end scene of ep.6). Before that is revealed, he and AR1Stephen Hart are sucked into the anomaly, the fact of him being from another(third) time line doesn't come clear until they are wrongly returned to AR2. So the Nick currently stuck in AR2, is actually from AR3 – where he did know AR3Claudia Brown, and, I'm sure, would like to be returned to her. Of course, the AR2Nick Cutter, didn't know Claudia in either AR2 or AR1, so his relationship with her is brand new, while AR3Nick is technically having an affair with AR2Claudia in lieu of finding his AR3Claudia among the time lines.

Ch.10- _**Warm Light**_ – AR1 – AR1Abby takes AR2Stephen to his flat, then go Mexican for a meal.

Ch.11 –_**Warm Light**_ – AR1 – AR2Nick and AR1Claudia Marsden nee Brown get to know each other and when Claudia gets drunk, Nick sleeps alone.

Ch.12 –_** Blinding Light**_ – AR1 – AR1Abby and AR2Stephen are kidnapped, AR2Stephen ends up back in a hospital bed. AR1Claudia, AR2Nick and AR1Connor try to find out what's happened to them and who took them._(skip to Ch:15)_

Ch.13 – _**Blinding Light2 **_– AR2 - takes over after they all get a bollicking from Lester over Connor's adventure in Swinley Forest. The Scooby gang - AR3Nick, AR1Stephen, AR2Abby, Connor and Claudia - all discuss ways of detecting the anomalies. Nick, Claudia and Connor are off to London to meet scientists already working on the project, Abby and Stephen are designated to go to Scotland to the Observatory for information on the Earth's magnetic field. Before they go, AR1Stephen and AR2Abby sleep together.

Ch.14 - _**Flickering Light**_ - AR2 – Jumps ahead a week or so. AR1Stephen is in Wales, helping with setting up a test rig to capture an anomaly. They've correlated information from the boffins and the observatory to detect magnetic fluctuations indicating the formation of an anomaly. The rest of the Scooby gang(A3Nick, AR2Abby, Connor and Claudia) are at a local pub waiting to hear if the test rig is successful. Before the anomaly appears, a force of armed men overrun the camp, shooting up the tents and rounding everyone up. AR1Stephen manages to avoid capture, but is caught when he reaches the forest road, getting darted by enemy unknown. The Scooby gang fear something has gone wrong and arrive at the campsite to investigate. They find everyone, including AR1Stephen, gone and only bullet holes in the tents to tell what had happened. AR2Captain Ryan arrives and they start to search for the missing soldiers, scientist and AR1Stephen. That night, as AR3Nick, AR2Connor and AR2Abby rest in a tent, an Older AR5Helen arrives and lures Nick to follow her with a promise she knows what's going on and the future now depends on AR3Nick learning about it too and maybe returning to his AR3Claudia. AR2Abby follows AR3Nick, who follows AR5Helen, and all three go through an anomaly, AR2Abby only just, before it closes._(skip to Ch.17)_

Ch.15 – _**Flickering Light2 **_– AR4(although technically they don't know which time they're in) – AR1Abby and AR2Stephen are held prisoner in a campsite run by a man called AR4Alex Massey, sometime in the Paleogene period(AR4), sixty million years ago. AR2Stephen is recovering from his beating, but still out of it. AR1Abby is taken for a meal by AR4Massey, who taunts her and shows signs of incipient madness. AR1Abby spends the night with AR2Stephen in the medical tent, but on waking, find the camp deserted and prehistoric creatures running loose in the compound because the generators that were running a force wall have stopped. When they go outside to investigate they are caught, by AR4Massey, returning from a hunting expedition to find his camp empty, except for AR2Stephen and AR1Abby. They are left to explore.

Ch.16 – _**Flickering Light3**_ - AR4/AR1 – AR1Abby and AR2Stephen have been abducted to another time by AR4Alex Massey, for reasons not yet made clear. Back in AR1, AR2Nick, AR1Claudia Marsden and AR1Connor, plus AR1Lester and the resources of the Home Office, are trying to track down a man seen following the original AR1Nick(who is still missing somewhere) and AR1Stephen(who was in AR2, but now probably in AR4) on a surveilance video, who they think was one of the men spotted by AR1Stephen's flatmate across the hall, and on the building cctv camera. The man, Drake, sabotages the Home office, almost killing AR2Nick, AR1Claudia and Connor in the process. Connor has found a way to track the anomalies, hitting on the same theory as those used in AR2, using the Magnetic field of the Earth._(skip to Ch: 19)_

Ch.17 –_** Ancient Light**_ - AR5 – AR2Abby follows AR3Nick through the anomaly and they find a nexus of anomalies (refer S1, ep4 – Dodo's). They see a man exit then enter one of the many portals, and they follow. They arrive at a camp and spot AR5Helen and another man, as well as a small army. They also see the men use a device to summon an anomaly and use it to trap a beast. AR3Nick sends AR2Abby to search the camp for AR1Stephen, while he distracts AR5Helen, who is expecting him. AR2Abby finds AR1Stephen already escaping and they both take off to find the anomaly leading back to the Nexus. Unfortunately a dinosaur from the Jurassic comes through before they get there. The army from the camp repel the reptile but drive it to where the runaways are hiding.

Ch.18 –_** Ancient Light2 **_- AR5 - AR3Nick has a conversation with AR5Helen safely above ground, while Alex Massey's men chase off an intruding dinosaur from the Jurassic. He discovers that the Stephen he's trying to help escape, is not the first used by Helen and Alex Massey for their nefarious purposes. Meanwhile, AR1Stephen, and AR2Abby narrowly escape from being trampled by the dinosaur and now are forced to wait until another anomaly appears, as well as avoid capture by Massey's henchmen. They are all still unaware that they are in the Paleogene Period at this time.

_(continues in Ch.19)_

tbc...hope this clarifies things for those having a problem following the story. I suggest you print it out and keep it handy grin Chapter 19 is on it's way.


	20. Ancient Light3

19/11/07

Title: Ancient Light 3

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note: Still in AR4, where AR3Nick together with AR2Abby and AR1Stephen, are attempting to find their way back to AR2, to escape the machinations of an Alex Massey, who is in cahoots with AR4Helen Cutter, or so it appears.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Nick returned to the camp to find it is complete disarray. Walking wounded stood outside what he supposed was the medical tent, while more seriously injured were being carried inside. All the men were on edge, brandishing their weapons at the slightest provocation and looking wild eyed at everyone. Nick found himself flanked by two heavily armed men who steered him towards a tent and waved him inside.

"I'm glad to see you unharmed, Professor Cutter...I would have been mortified if you had been endangered in any way." Alex Massey rose to his feet and walked towards Nick, his hand extended to shake, but Nick raised both of his to fend him off.

"Oh no you don't. I have no intention of becoming any better acquainted with you than I already am." Walking straight past Massey, Nick grabbed a water bottle from a side table and drank it down, ignoring everyone around him. Massey slowly turned around and regarded Nick with raised eyebrows. Helen entered the tent and came to an abrupt halt. Massey swung back to face her, his face still registering his amusement at Nick's behavior.

"My dear Helen, what have you been regaling our guest with? He's positively hostile?"

"Nothing that shocking Alex...just a few revelations and home truths. I think they just stuck in his craw a bit." Finding herself a folding camp chair, she sat down, her posture relaxed, but her eyes wary and watching. Alex waved away the guards at the tent flap and found himself a seat, waiting for Nick to finish his drink before speaking again.

"So what do you think of my business?"

Nick wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and regarded his ex wife, and new found nemesis with narrowed eyes. "I think that you must be insane to imagine you can mess with the past and get away with it...and I what I think about my wife, is not repeatable in mixed company."

His words hung in the air, Helen deciding that her boots had become intensely interesting while Alex just stared at Nick as if he'd grown an extra head. After a couple of beats, Massey threw back his head and laughed out loud, until tears started from his eyes and he had to wipe them away.

"Exactly as you predicted Helen...almost word for word. Congratulations." Massey managed, around his laughter. Slapping his knee, he sprang to his feet, belying his grey hair. "Now I must leave you both. As I am sure you will understand, I have a great deal to oversee both in this time and many others. Enjoy yourself here, Professor Cutter, it's not everyday you get to explore a brand new world, even if it's the same world you've known all your life – just in another time."

Nick lurched forward as Massey made to leave. "What period is this?"

Massey swung around, his eyebrows once more raised in mock surprise. "Haven't you figured it out already? And here I was thinking you were the best there is?"

Nick forced himself to give a deprecating smile. "No one's given me the grand tour, as yet."

Massey smiled back. "I'll let Helen have that honour. But to satisfy your curiosity, you are currently standing, at a rough estimate, thirty five million years in the past...give or take a million here or there. Certainly the Cenozoic era, and probably within the Paleogene Period, but then things get a little fuzzy. I was hoping to pick your brains and narrow it down to either the Oligocene or the Eocene epochs. But don't let that put you off, I'm sure there is plenty to keep someone in your field busy for years yet."

Nick risked a glance at Helen, who nodded to verify what Massey said. But it was too late to make any comments, Massey was already half way out of the tent, then he was gone. Nick staggered to Massey's vacated chair and sat down heavily.

"He makes it sound so common place," Nick waved his hand in the air like a conductor, "bandying about eras and epochs like days of the week. Just how much control does he have with these devices of his?"

"Enough for him to navigate between anomalies and get to where he wants to go." Helen answered, her head once more lowered.

Nick regarded her down bent head thoughtfully. Admittedly he had only recently become reacquainted with his missing wife, and had had to do some rightabout thinking regarding her judgment, but it was still Helen – the woman he'd married, loved, worked with, slept with.

"What the hell have you got me in to Helen?"

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The air was getting chill, Stephen pulling out the blanket he's stolen from the medical tent and wrapping it around Abby's shoulders.

"Here," he rubbed her arms to warm her up, "it's going to be a long night."

Abby let out an unladylike snort. "Then I suggest you stop playing Sir Galahad and get under here, with me. I'm the one rescuing you, remember?"

Stephen grinned at her, his teeth white in the gathering gloom of the evening. "How could I forget. Did you and Nick have any sort of plan, before launching yourself through that anomaly?"

Abby pouted and shifted over, to make room for him to settle in beside her. "There wasn't any time to plan...it was spontaneous..."

"Rash..."

"Spur of the moment. Anyone would think you wanted to stay in this...place." She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Of course, if you want to stay here with Helen..."

"Couldn't be further from my mind. Come here..." He shifted her off the ground and into his lap, the blanket finally able to wrap around them both but leaving their legs exposed. Abby sat stiffly for the blink of an eyelash before snuggling into his body, her small frame plastering itself to him like a second skin. He felt his body instantly react to her proximity but ruthlessly quashed any libidinous thoughts. They would have to wait until they got back to their own time and circumstances less hazardous. Similar thoughts didn't seem to be bothering Abby, who's warm breath was washing over his neck and raising prickles, a second before her lips made contact with his sensitized skin.

"Cut that out."

Abby lifted her head, her blond fringe mussed and slanted across her forehead. "What?"

"No fair."

Grinning in the gloom, Abby dived back to her former position, settling herself against his body, heat blooming everywhere they touched. Resigning himself to a sleepless night, Stephen turned his head to sweep the area for any sign of either humans or animals. The birds in the canopy overhead had finally finished their nighttime chorus and had settled in their roosts, the occasional cry of a night hunter only emphasizing the quiet of the night all around them. The faint sound of Abby's stomach rumbling made him grin in the darkness, her fingers glancing across his features and finding the smile curving his mouth.

"I'm hungry."

"So am I."

"It's going to be a long night, isn't it."

"Sleep Abby. I'll wake you if the anomaly appears or we need to move."

"Still hungry."

"I know."

He knew the moment she dropped off to sleep, her body relaxing totally against him, her head heavy on his shoulder. Her warmth and weight was acting like a thick blanket, his eyes closing one their own accord, despite his numb bottom and legs.

Hours, or maybe only minutes later, a sound made him come instantly awake, the warning only coming a second before their hiding place was surrounded by the dark figures of men, all brandishing weapons and what looked liked infrared goggles.

"Damn." Stephen let the expletive fall softly from his lips, Abby still sound asleep against him.

"Exactly Mr. Hart." Alex Massey stepped forward from behind his men, the light from the torch he held blinding Stephen, who shielded his eyes with his arm. "You and Miss Maitland have led us on a merry chase, but now I need you both to come with me. On your feet if you please."

It was surreal to be sitting in a Primeval forest with Abby in his arms, and surrounded by armed men, being addressed in such exquisitely polite terms by a man who was, quite probably, completely mad.

"Abby, wake up...sweetheart we have to move." Stephen shook his sleepy burden until she stirred, the lights from the torches now focused entirely on them like spotlights. "Come on Abby..." Stephen squeezed his arms, and Abby let out a squeak of protest.

"Ow...I can't breath...Stephen?"

"We have company," Stephen stated grimly. Abby twisted and blinked at the lights shining down on them. Without another word she unwound herself and, with Stephen's help, got to her feet, Stephen doing the same until they stood, side by side, facing their captors. As if on cue the anomaly, the one they'd been waiting for, flared into life, the light silhouetting a man holding one of the control boxes having obviously activated the anomaly with the device. The men around them parted to let them walk forward, Stephen hoisting the pack on his shoulders while glancing around at the men warily. Despite the guns, the men hadn't done more than maintain a wary watch on the fugitives, leaving any talking to Massey, who was also surprisingly quiet.

"Where are you taking us?" Stephen asked, Abby's hand slipping in to his and gripping tightly as they halted a few feet from the twisting, fractured light portal before them. Massey turned back to face them, his face in shadow and the anomaly forming a cavorting corona behind him.

"I've decided to check on some of my other camps...see what's been happening in my absence. I think you'll be interested as well. And before you ask, Professor Cutter is staying here for the time being with his lovely wife, so they'll be no help from that quarter." Massey grinned. "You should be flattered Mister Hart that I'm taking such trouble with you."

"Yes. Why is that exactly?" Stephen felt the hard end of a gun dig into his back, urging him forward.

"All in good time, dear boy, all in good time." Massey chuckled and turned back to face the anomaly. Two of his men went through first, then Massey, then Stephen and Abby, closely shadowed by the remaining men, guns raised and at the ready.

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Abby never let go of Stephen's hand as they traversed a series of anomalies, passing through several nexus of sparkling portals before arriving in surroundings that looked disturbingly like the one's they'd just left. The only difference was, that the new place was bathed in brilliant sunshine, while the place they'd just left had been in the dark of night. Abby felt nauseous, her stomach tied up in knots from nerves and anxiety at what they might encounter with each passage through another anomaly. As it was, Alex Massey was caution personified, allowing his men to thoroughly sweep the area before and after they passed through each anomaly, not once hurrying the process or appearing on whit put out if his men asked for a second check. By they time they arrived at their new destination, Abby was ready to scream with tension, Stephen's knuckles almost white from her grip on his fingers. They all squinted from the bright sunshine pouring down through the thin canopy, an explosion of sound and movement from a nearby thicket, by a flock of brightly colored birds, making every man with a gun come close to shooting the noisy creatures. The ground underfoot was spongy and damp, testifying that the sunshine came only after a long period of rain, the air redolent with the smell of damp greenery and rotting vegetation.

Glancing back at the anomaly they'd just come through, Abby saw that there was some sort of wire contraption strung between the trees around them, apparently creating a fixed point for the anomaly to appear in. Abby tugged on Stephen's arm, but he was already looking at the array with a frown creasing his forehead.

"That looks like our set up," Abby whispered.

"The very same," Stephen whispered back, slowing his steps to allow the men with guns to flow around them and pass on ahead. Alex Massey was striding towards a line of trees, behind which Stephen could see a line of trucks, tents and semi-permanent structures. "Looks like we're at another of his camps."

"What are those post with lights on top for?" Abby asked, keeping close by his side as they slowly followed their armed escort and dapper host.

"Who knows? Some sort of perimeter alarm maybe – or just night lights?"

A small group of men were approaching their party through the trees, Stephen jerking to a halt when he saw what had to be the twin of Alex Massey, meet and shake hands with the man up ahead. Both had the same hair, height and taste in clothes, the two groups meeting and mingling while Stephen and Abby hung back. While the two groups of armed guards drifted away towards the camp, Alex Massey and his twin approached their unwilling audience. Up close, there was no mistaking that the two men were obviously identical twins, two pairs of bright green eyes sweeping over Stephen and Abby, one pair evidently amused at the situation, the other one frankly curious.

"Is it wise to bring them here?" The Alex Massey twin asked, cocking his head in the same manner as his twin.

"I felt that it would prove beneficial. The Professor and his wife and at Camp Ten, which I intend to return to after a visit here. The young lady was imprudent enough to think she could rescue young Stephen on her own. They seem quite attached to each other."

Stephen fumed at being treated as invisible, but kept his mouth shut, hoping to learn more by listening than arguing. Abby seemed to realise this and kept her own counsel, and her hand firmly in his. The two Alex Massey's continued their conversation as if the two young people were no more than statues for their contemplation.

"Yes. Mine are too...attached that is. I think this could be quite entertaining. By the by, we've had some problems here. I came back to find the place deserted, except for my guests, and the generators off. We could have a problem."

"An incursion?"

"Probably...something spooked them, or drove them off. We were lucky not to lose the others as well."

"Where were you?"

"Camp Six...some problem with seismic activity too near the site. Plus we've had issues with the vehicles."

Stephen watched the interplay between the two men with fascination. It was like watching a man talk to himself in the mirror, carrying on a conversation but really only talking to himself, they were that much alike. He only understood a fraction of what they were talking about, filing it away for later. Abby shifted restlessly at his side, her small movement finally reminding their hosts of their presence.

"Mister Hart, Miss Maitland, how rude of us to keep you waiting like this...do follow us to the camp. I think I can promise you a surprise." Both men grinned at their prisoners, in a way that was both unnerving and strangely hypnotic. In an almost identical move, they swept their arms wide to usher Stephen and Abby forward, falling in step behind them as they made their way through the low growing ground cover, towards the first truck visible between the trees. Stephen recognised it as the same model he'd woken up in, back at the other camp.

As they passed through the outer ring of posts, the lights on top flared into life, rotating like warning lights. Spaced evenly apart, they formed a continuous ring that circled the camp, disappearing as the circle curved around to encompass the small area, Stephen guessed about two thirds the size of a football field. The thumping chug of generators could now be heard over the continual calling of birds both high in the canopy, and from the surrounding woods. It was becoming incredibly hot and steamy in the sunlight, Stephen feeling a trickle of sweat snake down his back and make his shirt stick, as they tramped into the camp itself, the two Alex Massey's following close behind.

"Stop right there," Massey commanded, Stephen and Abby doing as he asked, the pair of them now standing roughly in the center of the camp with tents ranged all around them. One had a red cross on the side, while another had it's side rolled up and the smell of cooking wafted out on a warm breeze.

Massey's twin had already disappeared inside one of the tents, while Massey himself approached his captives with a mocking smile twisting his lips. He stood up close to Stephen, tilting his head back to stare into the taller mans face. "I was expecting...more from you."

"Sorry to disappoint." Stephen replied laconically.

"Something...heroic." Massey continued, eyeing Stephen's physique. "Something rash and impulsive."

"What would be the point?" Stephen adopted a faintly bored expression, looking away from Massey, right over his head. "You're armed, I'm not."

"True...and of course, there's the small matter of the girl." Massey grinned as the bored look fled from Stephen's face, to be replaced by one of intensity and dangerous blue eyes.

"Leave Abby out of this."

"I didn't invite her...but now she's here, she can play her part. Might even come in useful." Massey smiled impishly while Stephen bristled, Abby sidling away from Massey as he circled the pair. Stephen also moved, keeping himself between Massey and Abby at all time.

"You've no reason to keep her here...you could easily send her back to her own time."

Abby opened her mouth to protest, but a hard squeeze from Stephen's fingers snapped her mouth shut again. She had to trust him. She did. Massey had finished his circling and now stood with his back to the tent his twin had entered. Stephen had been so focused on him, he hadn't noticed the approach of the couple following the second Massey from the tent. An inarticulate cry from Abby behind him brought his attention back up, but he almost staggered back in surprise to see another Abby walking towards him. A quick check behind confirmed that his Abby was still there, and not somehow moved to be in front of him. The two Massey's stepped to the side to gleefully watch the meeting of the two couples.

Stephen stared in horrid fascination at his battered self, the features his own although marred and swollen from a recent beating. The Abby by his twins side was subtly different as well, her face sporting a colorful bruise on her cheek, while her small frame held up her Stephen as they both stared across the small space at the impossible.

"Bloody hell."

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tbc...


	21. Coruscating Light

30/11/07

Title: Coruscating Light

Author: Squeezynz

Author's note: we now leave our Stephen's and Abby's briefly, to return to the end of Chapter 16, AR1, where the rest of the Scooby gang, AR1Connor, Sir Lester and Claudia(Marsden) together with AR2Nick, have just survived the home office bombing, and are on the trail of AR1Alex Massey and his henchmen, as well as trying to find their missing friends, AR1Abby and AR2Stephen.

(remember that AR1 is the scene at the end of ep.6 of season one. "Where's Claudia?" Technically, the rest of season one is set in yet another alternative reality - AR3 – where AR3Nick originally came from when he entered the anomaly in ep.6. AR3Nick is currently stranded in time, after going in search of AR1 Stephen and AR2Abby, there with his missing wife, Helen Cutter.)

For clarification of all these complicated threads, go to Chapter 19 and read the chapter review. It should be a clear as mud after reading that)

It's not my fault.

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They stood in a room with an enormous screen, nearly the full height of the room. Numerous people worked at computer stations around the room, the LED's reflecting of headsets and glasses. Nick, Connor and Claudia watched as several satellite feeds were displayed on the screen, the single screen becoming many as each view vied for attention with the others. Garish colours and strange visuals appeared on one screen, prompting Connor to break his self imposed silence.

"Infrared..and that one shows the magnetic array...this is just so cool!" Unable to completely contain his excitement, Connor flashed a wide grin at his companions, receiving an indulgent look from the Professor. Muted voices around them and the buzz of the technology made for an awe inspiring spectacle of modern resources, available to anyone with enough money and government backing to call on them. Claudia felt someone tap her shoulder and turned to find Sir Lester had joined them in the viewing gallery, his usually taciturn expression showing a boyish enthusiasm for the display in front of them.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Lester murmured, leaning forward to see Nick and Connor's reactions. "Nice to see where all your tax dollars are being spent."

"Big brother is watching you..." Nick muttered back, as one of the camera's zoomed in like an avenging angel, pinpointing one of the anomaly sites and bringing it into sharp focus. "Where is that?" Nick asked, pointing to the screen.

"It should look familiar, it's where you and Stephen were picked up. Hence the signs of relatively recent activity." Lester informed him, pointing at the screen to illustrate the tyre tracks criss-crossing the muddy area.

"That's where we were found?" Nick studied the area, but it remained anonymous to him. "What about the other sites?"

"Tracking them as we speak." Lester replied, a tech walking over to the government man and handing him a sheet of paper. "They think they've found them."

Connor, Nick and Claudia all turned to stare at Lester, then just as quickly back to the huge screen, searching the multiple displays. One by one the excess screens were shut off, leaving one to take up a good half of the available space. It showed a scene of rolling mountainside, dotted with dense woodlands, the location not immediately identifiable. Lester was frowning down at the sheet, trying to read it in the uncertain light.

"It would appear that you were right, Mister Temple. They are exactly where you said they would be."

"I knew it...but wait...what is that?" Connor's gleeful expression changed to one of surprise. On the big screen the view was narrowing down to a particularly dense area of tree covered hillside, and as they got closer it was apparent that a building was partially camouflaged by the trees. They could see little from the view directly above, other than it was big, and vaguely octagonal in shape.

"We have a contact," announced one of the tech at their work station, an overlay appearing on top of the real time view of the woodland, a bright light flashing somewhere off to the left of the building. "Confirmed...it's an AAT, strength six and holding steady."

"AAT?" Nick hissed at Connor.

"Active Anomaly Target," Connor hissed back. "The strength is the measure of magnetic pulse given off by the event. They can measure the fluctuations and predict if it's weakening. A six means a pretty good anomaly, and no sign of it closing soon."

"What does strength ten mean?" Claudia asked.

Connor didn't answer immediately, and both Nick and Claudia turned to stare at the young student. Connor returned their raised eyebrows with a lop sided smile.

"End of the world?"

"What?" Claudia burst out, only to have Lester sigh heavily at her side.

"What Mister Temple is trying to say is, that anything over an eight constitutes an irreparable tear in the fabric of time and space...a probable, and this is all only speculation, but a likely creation of a permanent portal into the past."

"And that's a ten?" Nick asked, looking aghast. "Have any of them come close to that?"

"Not as yet, at least not since we started to record the activity. We're hoping, if we find Massey's information, we'll find more to go on. Which is the reason we're all here, and watching this. Ah, there are the special forces getting into position." Lester nodded towards the screen, which had switched to infrared again, showing bright heat points indicating a sizable force of armed men approaching the structure in the woods.

"How did they get there so fast?" Nick gaped at the screen, watching the bright pinpoints of light creeping ever closer to the octagonal building.

"We decided to take Connor's information on board and send special forces ahead of time. If there is anyone, or any technology to be found in regards these anomalies, they'll make sure it is kept secure and under wraps." Lester leant over the low railing and spoke to one of the techs, pointing to the screen as he asked his question. After a brief exchange, Lester leant back and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well?" Nick asked.

"As you can see, the only signs of life are the special forces surrounding the building. It would appear to be deserted."

"Or maybe they left via the anomaly before your men got there," Connor suggested, receiving a glare from Lester for his trouble.

"That would suggest a leak, and that's not possible." Lester snapped.

"I wouldn't have thought anyone could have breached Home Office security and blown up its offices, but it happened. I reckon Connor is probably right. The bird has flown," said Nick, his hands on his hips. On the screen, the bright lights of the special forces could be seen entering the building, the lights becoming muted through the thickness of the walls, but still visible. The pulsing light that pinpointed the anomaly was still there, and they saw several of the soldiers exit the building and approach the anomaly.

A voice sounded over an intercom, crackling and distorted, but mostly clear.

"Alpha team to base. Target abandoned but AAT still open. Building secure and no evidence of sabotage as yet. Looks like they left in a hurry, coffee's still warm."

One of the operators answered. "Base to Alpha Leader, collect any portable data and remove to safe distance, then check the place, watch for explosives."

"Already on it Base. Disarming as we go. R and D would have a field day with what's in here. Will start data download as soon as we sure there are no devices left behind."

"Alright Alpha Leader, you're calling the shots. We'll send the experts down. Base out."

Lester turned to face the other three. "That's your cue. There a car and a plane waiting for you three. I suggest you don't hang about. Everything you need will be provided."

Claudia gaped for a second, then closed her mouth and gave her superior a nod, leading the other two out of the darkened room and out into a brightly lit corridor.

"This could be the breakthrough we needed," said Claudia, hurrying down the corridor to the bank of lifts at the end.

"We have you to thank for this Connor...well done." Nick slapped the younger man on the shoulder, almost sending him sprawling.

"Nothing to it...just have to follow the trail of the technology. Wonder what they were doing in the building?"

"Guess we'll find out soon enough," Nick replied. The ping of the lift forestalled any further conversation, the air of nervous anticipation carrying over until they were bundled aboard a private jet and heading west from London City Airport towards their destination, somewhere east of the Cambrian Mountains. Their flight would take them to the Caernarfon Air Park, then another, local operator would take them the short, thirty minute trip to where the special forces were waiting to take them to the site. The ultimate destination was a small area outside the village of Mallwyd, nestled at the base of the Welsh mountains.

They had plenty of time to read the dossier handed to Claudia when they reached the London airport, Lester's sources once more providing them with everything known to date about the area, the village and Massey. They arrived at Caernarfon and were immediately bundled into a military RN Merlin HM1 and flown towards the imposing bulk of Cambrian highlands. Connor was in his elements, having never flown in a helicopter before, his face light up with a grin that could have powered the national grid. Claudia looked less sanguine, her face pale and mouth set, enduring the noisy ride but not exactly enjoying it. Nick sat and stared out at the Welsh landscape passing below, turning over in his head what they'd learned so far, but also aware that it had brought them precious little closer to finding Stephen or Abby. They could only hope that whatever the building in Mallwyd was hiding would prove useful in the hunt for their missing friends.

They'd received notification that the anomaly was still open, providing a direct portal to wherever Massey or his cohorts had gone. If they were lucky, it could lead them there as well.

A short burst of radio chatter announced their arrival at the site, several figures in black on the ground ready to receive them. They'd flown over the small village itself, but it had passed in a blur

and now they were in the foothills of the Cambrians, bordering a dense tract of forest.

It was a short trip on the back of a quad bike among the trees before they arrived at the site. The anomaly was clearly visible, twinkling innocently among the dark trunks of pine and scrubby ash. Several of the smaller trees had been cleared to provide a space in front of the portal to the fourth dimension. Nick and the others were not given a chance to investigate, bundled as they were by the special forces into the green painted octagon. Inside was brightly lit with artificial light, the construct having no windows to the outside, only doors. Claudia hung back to speak to the leader of the special ops, while Connor and Nick advanced on the bank of computers in the middle of the room. Several of the armed forces were already accessing the hard-drives, downloading what they could, while others boxed up paperwork ready to be taken back to the Home Office.

Nick found himself sitting at one of the consoles and flicking on the screen. At once the image of a corporate logo appeared, looking a little like the emblem for recycling, but with a rendering of a velociraptor at the center. He clicked on the image and a page of clickable options appeared.

Connor was a couple of computers down and tapping furiously on the keyboard, his attention all on the screen. Nick glanced over and decided to investigate what Connor was doing. Massey had certainly thrown a great deal of money into this project, if the quality of the technology was anything to go by. It was a surprise that he, Massey, had chosen to abandon it all without even deleting the information left behind. Choosing to ignore the enigma that was Alex Massey, Nick stood behind Connor and watched the young student work. One of the special ops announced he was done, extracting a mini disk from the hard drive and slipping it into a jewel case. Connor didn't raise his head, his concentration all on the pages and information scrolling across his screen.

"Connor?" Nick asked softly.

"They are years ahead of us in every way. It's incredible, how this man, this Rhino Corp has managed to keep this under wraps until now, it boggles the mind. Look here, a complete breakdown of the specs to build a gate detector, another file about the tracking technology...this is a gold mine. I can't believe they left all this here for us to find...either they were really caught on the back foot, or they left this here deliberately."

"Why would they do that?" Claudia asked, having come up behind both men and watched the younger man work his magic.

"Maybe there's someone in the organisation that doesn't like what Massey is doing?" Nick suggested, glancing over at Claudia.

"The section leader said they did find several devices that could have wiped this building off the face of the map, but none of them had been primed or timers set, which is odd."

"Well, if there is someone on the inside...they certainly left us a wealth of information. With this," Connor pointed at the screen, "we could actually create a device to tell us where the anomaly is leading, time wise, and if anything is on the other side...cool!"

"What does it look like?" Claudia asked, peering at the screen. Connor brought up an image and she asked him to print it out. "I'll see if anyone has come across these in their search. It's too much to hope for, but it's worth a chance. Otherwise we'll have to get our guys onto making one, as soon as possible." She left to collect the printout and take it to the OIC.

Nick remained with Connor, the young man totally absorbed in his quest to winkle out all he could from the computer system. After twenty minutes, Nick leant forward again.

"Anything yet to indicate what might have happened to Stephen and Abby?"

"I'm looking...give me time. There's been several references to other sites. It appears that there are several off-world, to use a word, sites and it's possible they've been taken to one of those. Plus I've seen several references to lists of personnel at these sites. See...here and here," Connor pointed to them on the screen. "You see this list...there's an S Hart, but no designation, only a site number. And again, here..and here. All S Hart...one lists the person as invaluable, another as expendable."

"How many in all?" Nick asked, frowning.

"Eighteen so far. Some with a date, some without, others with reference to, what I can only suppose are hunting trips, with numbers in the party and trophies taken. It makes for pretty hairy reading. Some of these groups come back with less members than they start out with. There seems to be a very high rate of attrition among those taking part, including regular personnel."

"Shit." Nick swore, noting the animals listed on the trophy printouts, several names familiar, others new to him, all of them obviously primeval in origin and not part of the current catalogue of Earth species alive today.

Connor glanced up at Cutter, his fingers unmoving on the keyboard. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that this bastard, Massey, has been harvesting people he can use. Taking them from different times to use for his own reasons. Goodness knows what lure he uses to convince them to become members of his organisation, but it must be good to have coerced Stephen into the ranks."

"Maybe he didn't go willingly?" Connor suggested. "I mean, they had to beat up our guy and carry him off...not exactly a soft option."

"You may be right. If Massey is targeting Stephen, it's possible they had to use something other than money to persuade him."

"And that's why they took Abby as well?"

"Probably." Nick scratched at his face. "Ack...who knows what's going on. Do you best Connor, I'll go see about rustling up some provision. I could murder a good scotch."

"Beer for me, if your offering," Connor called after him, turning back to the screen, his brows forming a formidable frown as he typed furiously.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

It was getting dark before the special ops team turned up the small cache of gizmo's hidden behind a panel in one of the rooms. It was becoming clear, that someone inside Massey's or Rhino Corps team was leaving clues, helping Cutter and his people follow the bread crumbs. No one knew enough to speculate who, although Nick was forming a suspicion but chose to keep his views to himself.

The anomaly had remained open for hours now, the area around it now illuminated with several flood lights and detectors to alert the team if the magnetic field started to fade. Supplied with beer and coffee, Connor remained glued to the computer console, ignoring suggestions he take a break, only his bladder making him move, and that infrequently.

The special forces had been reinforced and relieved, the area now as secure as humanly possible, around the hidden research station. It was puzzling Nick as to why nothing had attempted to come through the time portal, as had happened before. They were using one of the new found detectors, but nothing was appearing on the scanner. It was purported to be able to scan some distance beyond the anomaly on the other side of the rip, giving amble warning if a creature approached. So far, nothing had. It worried him.

He left Connor and went out to the area around the anomaly, noting that a small team of techs were putting the last touches to a remote robot they were going to use to send through to test if radio signals could be passed through the portal, along with information about the situation there. It obviated the use of people as guinea pigs, but also slowed the whole process down, the equipment needing to be calibrated and checked before each use. Nick stood to the side and watched, Claudia joining him after a few minutes.

"Home office directive, I'm afraid," said Claudia, as if reading Nick's mind. "They don't want to lose anyone unnecessarily."

"Well that's a comfort," Nick muttered, feeling a wave of impatience sweep over him. It had been hours since they'd arrived, and still nothing had been done to set out after the previous occupants.

"How much longer?"

Claudia heard the impatience in his voice. "I'm sorry Nick...I know you want to go after them and find Stephen and Abby, but you can't just go blundering about...they could be anywhere."

"Or they could be just on the other side of that anomaly. Even the Home Office must realise we've been given this opportunity, handed to us on a plate. It would have been too easy for them to wipe all the information off the computer system and torch this place, leave nothing behind. Instead we have more than we could have possibly hoped for...the holy grail of anomaly research, all tied up with a bow and served with a side helping of 'come get me'. What more does Lester want? A signed invitation?"

Nick had become more animated as he spoke, his hands expressing some of his frustration. Claudia placed a hand on his arm, feeling the tense muscles flex beneath her fingers.

"I know how you feel Nick, truly I do, but we have to be patient. This could all be a trap, and you're too important to risk. You haven't spoken to Connor recently...?"

"About an hour ago...why?"

"Stephen isn't the only one that's mentioned in those personnel lists."

Nick stared at her for a heartbeat, then blinked slowly. "Ah...I did wonder."

"You two are so obviously best as a team, it's little wonder they took you both. Although it appears to be Stephen more often than you."

"I think you can thank my wife for that discrepancy"

"Your wife? Helen Cutter?"

"The same. I'm starting to think she had a hand in this as well."

"How so?"

"Nothing I can point to, just a feeling."

Claudia looked at him askance, but didn't question his hunch. It was something Lester had mentioned when she'd reported back to him. It seemed that Nick had been thinking the same thing.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Nick, Connor and Claudia stood and watched the robot trundle towards the still gyrating anomaly and disappear through. Every tech in the place was now standing around a hastily erected computer station, monitoring the video feed signal and electronic feedback from their various sensors placed about the robot. The forest around them was preternaturally quiet, the lights glaringly bright and making the night seem even darker.

"We're getting a signal," the technician announced, drawing all eyes to him. "We have visual as well."

Nick muscled his way through the crowd of bodies and caught a glimpse of what the robot was seeing.

"The Nexus!"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	22. Coruscating Light2

11/12/07

Chapter: Coruscating Light2

Author: Squeezynz

**Authors Note**: Back to AR5, where we left our Stephen's and Abby's, plus a visit to where AR3Nick is being held with AR4Helen. Okay, well the problem has arisen as to how to tell our Abby's and Stephen's apart. For a start, AR1Stephen and Abby were the originals, per se, so they'll stay with Capitals in front of their names, the other two, AR2stephen and abby, will be lower case. Hey, it's the best I can do at short notice. So at the moment, AR1Stephen is with AR2abby, while the reverse is true for the other pair. Gawd I'm gonna need a rest after this story.

Additionally, AR2stephen, was the one looking the worse for wear.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

"What the hell happened to you?" Stephen asked, lifting his hand as if to touch the bruising on his counterparts face, but then dropping his arm at the last second. The two Abby's appeared to have been struck dumb, staring at each other in horrified fascination.

"Couple of nasty visitors who didn't like the answers I gave them," stephen replied, twisting his lips in a crooked smile. "How's he get you?"

"Dart gun. Any idea what this is all about?"

"Not a clue...only just got out of hospital, then ended back in it again."

"Hospital? What for?"

"Got lost in the past. Not the most hospitable of places...somewhere in the Permian."

Alex Massey stepped forward, forcing the two younger men to step back. "As riveting as this reunion is, I need you all to follow these gentleman. Can't have you all just wandering about now, can we?"

"We were doing just that before these two arrived," Abby retorted.

"Ah yes, but as you say, that was before these two arrived. Now I think I should rein in your inquisitiveness for now." Massey signaled several of the armed men forward, who surrounded the two couples and started to herd them away. Behind one of the truck, an array of metal cages stood stacked one on top of the other, of all sizes. Several were obviously intended for animals as large as elephants and possibly larger. The soldiers separated the Stephen's from the Abby's and put them in separate cages. Both Abby's put up a fight, kicking and pummeling their guards until thrown without ceremony into a cage and locked up. The Stephen's naturally protested, but a well aimed blow to the injured man, quickly subdued the other, together the two men locked up in the cage next door to the women.

The cages had a solid floor, to which Stephen lowered his twin, the other man gasping as his injured ribs protested the rough treatment. Both Abby's were up against the bars, unable to do more than watch with similarly agonised expressions.

"Bastards...you didn't need to do that!" Abby shouted at the guards, the men ignoring her attempts to prise the bars apart.

"Give up love, they're designed to hold a dinosaur," one laughed, exchanging a glance with his companions, "I think they can hold a scrap like you, with ease!" Provoking more laughter when Abby glared daggers at him before turning her back on them all. The other abby was crouched down at the bars between her and the two Stephen's, her expression pensive as she stared at the two men, identical in looks if not clothing. When Abby came over and joined her, the two girls exchanged a rueful glance at each other.

"Well this is a pickle. We joked about this happening, but I never thought it would."

They both looked over at the two men, who stared back, equally bemused.

"If it wasn't for the fact that mine is sporting a fine set of bruises, I'd have a job telling them apart." Abby remarked. "I suppose this confirms all our theories about alternative time lines with a vengeance."

"Is you Stephen from your time line?" abby asked.

"No, from another one. Yours?"

"Same."

Stephen was helping his twin to get into a comfortable position, not easy given his injuries.

"Better?"

"Some...thanks. Never expected this..." stephen waved vaguely in the directions of the Abby's.

"I suppose it does prove one thing," said Stephen, raising an eyebrow.

"Similar taste in women?"

"Great taste in women."

"Wonder how many more of us are being collected by Massey?"

"Maybe they already have, and we're the last."

"Then what happened to the others?" stephen asked, exchanging a loaded glance with his cell mate.

They both turned to look at the girls, who stared back.

"What?" asked the Abby's in perfect unison.

Stephen shook his head. "I can feel a headache coming on." His cell mate chuckled.

"It could be worse..."

This time is was Abby who spoke up. "Hey, whatcha mean worse?"

Her stephen gave her a warm look. "Probably not the right word for what I meant...but just think. What if his Abby, no offense, is my abby? Or vicer-versa. I mean... what are the chances?"

"Slim to astronomical..." Stephen retorted dismissively, but a gasp from his abby made gave him pause. Both couples looked at each other assessingly, Abby shaking her head first.

"Impossible...I mean...impossible...isn't it?" She looked pleadingly at both men, who could only shrug.

"I suppose it's easily solved..." Stephen chewed his lip, his look taking at both women. "We just relate how we did...or didn't meet. Either the other will know the truth or not."

"But..." abby protested. "But Stephen...we...I mean...we're...oh no."

The implication hung heavy in the air.

"I'll go first..." Abby broke the silence, her face tense, as if she already knew the answer. " The last time I saw the Stephen from my time...Helen Cutter had returned with Nick Cutter through the anomaly. She announced she was going back...and other stuff, then Nick started saying that everything was wrong and shouting about a Claudia Brown, who we didn't know...then the anomaly grew huge and Nick disappeared, our Stephen going with him." She stared apprehensively at the two men, both of them staring back until Stephen dropped his gaze and stared at the floor.

"Oh my God...Nick was devastated because Ryan had been lost to the future predator..."

"And Helen brought up your affair with her..." Abby added.

Abby and Stephen stared at each other in dismay.

"Abby?"

"The same...I looked after your plants for you. Met your roomy across the hall...she's nice."

"Sue's a treasure..." Stephen murmured, too thunderstruck to think entirely coherently. His gaze shifted to the other girl in the cage, a pair of wounded blue eyes meeting his for a second before skittering away to stare at the woods beyond the cage wall. "Abby...hey, it doesn't..."

"Yes Stephen, it does..."abby gave a strangled gasp as she struggled for air. "Of course it changes everything. I always said I'd be understanding, if you ever met the me from your time again."

"Abby come on...I never expected...never wanted, dammit I never thought I'd have the chance to go back!"

"Now you do!" Unable to bear the pain anymore, abby struggled to her feet and went to the back of her cage, putting as much distance between her and Stephen as possible. Defeated, Stephen turned to face the others. Abby watched him with sympathetic eyes, while stephen remained silent, watching the drama play out.

"I'll talk to her...I don't think any of us are prepared for this sort of muddle. One thing.." Abby indicated for Stephen to come closer. When he did she lowered her voice for his hearing only.

"Have you told her about everything?"

"Yes...everything." Stephen replied grimly.

"And given the choice...would you stay with her, or return with me?"

"Abby..." Stephen looked at his former team mate in exasperation. Abby just tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. Stephen slumped.

"Stay with her. I love her...you... both," he shook his head. Abby grinned, looking over his shoulder at the other stephen, who winked at her with his good eye.

"Good enough. Go chat amongst yourselves for awhile," she waved him away before turning her back and walking to where the other abby sat with her knees drawn up and her face turned away.

Stephen returned to where the other man sat, sitting himself down and resting his arms on his raised knees. The two exchanged a look.

"I envy you...knowing Abby that much longer than I have."

"I didn't really know her that well. Sure, I fancied her, she fancied me...but it never got a chance to get started, not really."

"And the other Abby?"

Stephen laughed softly. "I told her everything...and she still wanted me. She's everything I thought Abby would be...but so much more."

"Then what's the problem? I'm more than happy with my Abby, as I'm sure you are with yours. I'm in no shape to fight you for her, but if I know my girl, it won't come to that. Abby's a gift in whatever time line you're in. I'm only sorry I didn't get to know her sooner. In my time, it was highly unlikely we would have met at all, if not for this whole anomaly paradox."

"And it's likely in mine, after Helen's poison did it's work, that my Abby would have dropped me faster than a hot coal and had nothing more to do with me. It seems that karma is working overtime in our favour."

In the other cage, Abby was talking to abby, their two blond heads close together. At one stage they embraced, hugging tightly before letting go and clambering to their feet. Approaching the metal wall between them, the two girls waited for the two men to approach from their side, Stephen helping stephen to his feet.

Abby glanced at her silent twin, then spoke to the Stephen from her time.

"We've talked...and agreed. Whatever is past, is past. What we have now is what is important, not what's gone before, and we both agree on that, wholeheartedly. Whatever happens from here on in, we're in this together, and we'll stay together, as we are, come what may. Agreed?"

The Stephen's nodded, both of them breaking out into similar smiles. "Agreed!" they replied in unison, stephen grinned at both of the Abby's but then his face contorted in pain and he slumped back down to the floor, clutching his side.

"I think that last punch did more damage than good...damn it hurts..."

Abby crouched next to him on her side of the bars, her hand finding his and holding on. The other two could only look on in dismay, Stephen suddenly jumping to his feet and shouting to the guards standing some distance away.

"Hey...we need some help here...medical help...hey!"

Two of the guards ambled over, their guns at the ready. Stephen stepped back from the bars and indicated his cell mate on the floor.

"That last blow has caused more damage. Get the medic...quick."

The two guards peered at stephen, unable to ignore the pallor of his face, or the worry clearly evident on the face of the two women.

"Get the doc...I'll stay here...and hurry."

Within minutes, the a medical orderly was approaching, bag in hand, the guard in tow.

"Stand away from the bars, hands on your head!"

Stephen complied and watched as the guards and medic entered the cage, keeping their guns trained on him, while the other worked on stephen. In the end, the medic called for a stretcher, two guards carrying the injured man out of the cage and across the compound back to the tent. Massey watched the whole from a distance, his pale green eyes not missing a second of the drama playing out between his four captives. He smiled to himself before turning back to enter his tent and confer with his counterpart inside.

"We have him. Maybe I won't have Drake shot for his heavy handed beating of the boy. It looks like it'll work nicely in our favour after all."

"What's happened?" the second Massey asked, lifting a glass of whiskey and downing it in one.

"Seems our Stephen isn't quite up to par. They've taken him back to the medical tent."

"How are the others taking it?"

"As you'd expect. Stephen looks like he wants to break a few heads, the Abby's look as vulnerable as ever. Perfect for our needs."

"So you don't think you'll have any problem with him?"

"None at all." Pouring himself a drink, Massey took a sip and smacked his lips appreciatively. "None. At. All."

zzzzzzz zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz

It was getting dark before they noticed any activity in the camp. Their guards were having a smoke and joking together, when an anomaly appeared, not far distant from the cages. Stephen and the Abby's had been sitting together on either side of the wall between them, discussing their differing experiences when the bright light flashed into existence. Their guards tossed their cigs and called out to the camp. Instantly a troop of armed men took up defensive positions in a circle about the anomaly, ready for action. The two Massey's appeared from their tent and walked towards the anomaly, past the cages, but not looking at their captives once. Walking between the ranks of armed soldiers, the two men halted a few feet from the anomaly and appeared to be waiting for something.

Within a few minutes their patience was rewarded with the appearance of a large party of men through the sparkling portal, all of them heavily armed, and all of them looking surprised at the reception waiting for them. Only when the two Massey's walked forward did the new party relax, shaking hands with the two men and exchanging laughing comments before turning to walk back to the camp. Several of the new arrivals cast curious glances at the three held in the cages, but didn't pause in their progress towards the tents.

Stephen was watching the party of newcomers with a keen interest. He thought he recognised some of the faces, but couldn't be sure. The Abby's chose to ignore the men altogether, turning their backs and refusing to acknowledge their rude stares.

Within minutes of the party disappearing from their line of sight, two guards approached the cages, unlocking Stephens' and gesturing for him to step out.

"Massey wants you, move it."

"What for?" Watching both guard warily, Stephen stepped back until he was up against the far wall. The guards both carried guns, but they were slung over their shoulders. In their hands they held short black sticks, which he correctly surmised were the equivalent to cattle prods. He flexed his hands, curling them into fists then relaxing them. Every muscle in his body tensed in readiness to fight as the men approached, one on each flank, watching him warily. The two Abby's looked on apprehensively from the other cage, fearful for him but unable to do much more than watch what happened next.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be Hart. Unless you want to end up like your mate, in the medical tent."

Stephen assessed his chances of getting clear of both guards and decided that he was of more use in one piece than a bloody pulp. Both guards looked like seasoned men, their faces and bodies hard and ready to deal out pain. Relaxing his shoulders, Stephen held up his hands, palm out in the universal gesture of surrender.

"Take it easy boys...I'll come quietly." He waited for the men to lower their weapons before glancing over at the two anxious Abby's. "I'll try and find out what's happening with stephen...okay?"

Abby and abby remained mute, watching as the men chivvied Stephen out of his cage and away towards the tents. Left alone, they huddled on the floor.

"I wish I knew how stephen is doing...he didn't look good," said Abby, forlornly.

"Hey...it's stephen...he's tough. If Stephen from your time can survive the deadly attack of an Arthropleurid, the stephen from mine can surely throw off a little roughing up."

"He told you about that?"

"Yeah...but I'm betting he left out a ton of details. Care to tell me what actually happened?"

"Sure...um...well...there were these spider's..." Abby started, only to see her twin shudder in the twilight. "Yeah...I feel the same. Anyway...they were causing problems in the underground and we had to go and sort it out."

zzzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzz

One of the men placed a meaty hand in between his shoulders blades and shoved, sending Stephen stumbling, off balance, into the tent occupied by the Massey's and their guests. All of the men looked up, several of them giving Stephen a hard glare before returning to their liquid refreshments. Massey stepped forward and clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen...this is Stephen Hart, the best tracker in the business and the man who'll guarantee you'll bag the big one on our hunt." Massey sidled up to Stephen and flung an arm around his shoulders. Stephen looked askance and tried to shrug off the arm, but Massey clamped it there and wouldn't let him move. "I promised you all the hunt of a lifetime and you will have it."

"Hunt what?" Stephen asked, ignoring the hard prod in his back from one of the guards.

"The ultimate big game, Stephen m'boy...what every hunter dreams of having within his sights...the top predator of all history!" Massey punctuated each statement with a hard squeeze, as if Stephen was a favoured nephew and Massey was showing him off.

Stephen gritted his teeth and squashed the urge to punch Massey, pulling away from the loathsome man as soon as he lifted his arm from around his shoulders. The audience was hanging on every word Massey uttered, and Stephen felt a shiver of unease snake down his spine as he recognised the look of naked blood lust in some of the men's eyes.

"What exactly are you talking about? Which top predator and which history?"

"Primeval history, of course." Massey turned back to regale his audience. "I promise you, friends, that this hunt will be the one to top all others."

"When do we leave?" One man called out, the others muttering in support.

"At once. Everything is ready, we were only waiting for Mr. Hart and we can be off."

Stephen clenched his fists. "What do you think you'll going to hunt? And why the hell do you think I'm going to help you?"

Hearing his raised voice, some of the men paused as they rose to their feet, all attention once more on Massey. Alex didn't turn a hair, keeping his jovial, urbane manner although his reply came out clipped.

"The biggest land based predator the Earth has ever seen, and you are going to track it for us, or else those pretty blond bits will be thrown to my men, one at a time. As you have a vested interest in both of them, I would think you'd leap at the chance to keep them safe from harm. Of course, if that angle doesn't move you, there's always your poor injured self. I wonder how you'd like to see him tortured...all because you wouldn't do this little thing? And if that isn't sufficient inducement, there's always Nick Cutter. He's a tough nut, but I'm sure the sight of him being put in a cage with some primeval beasty might just persuade you to co-operate."

In anticipation of his reaction, the two guards grabbed Stephen's arms and pinned them behind his back even as he launched himself at Massey, enraged and ready to throttle the man.

"You bloody bastard, you touch one hair on their heads and I'll smash you to a pulp!"

It took both men to hold Stephen back, Massey drawing back as the enraged young man fought to throw off the men restraining him.

"I'll kill you if you touch them...kill you!" Stephen raged, uncaring of the men twisting his arms and forcing him to the ground. At length, Stephen had to submit, panting heavily, his eyes blazing despite being pinned and helpless.

Massey crouched down, fisting his hand in Stephen's hair to pull his head up. Stephen hissed at the pain in his scalp but didn't cry out.

"You would do well then to do as I ask." Massey tilted his head up and spoke to another guard standing ready inside the tent. "Go fetch one of the blonds...quickly!" then he got to his feet.

Stephen struggled to free himself, a third man wrestling a gag into his mouth, before they hauled him to his feet. Massey remained unperturbed and inspected his fingernails as they waited for the guard to return. It was full dark outside, with floodlights illuminating the camp site but casting black shadows as men walked to and fro. The guard soon appeared, his hand around abby's arm as he marched her forward. Seeing Stephen being held and gagged, she made to run forward, but the guard held her tightly, bringing her to stand next to Massey.

"Ah...Miss Maitland...abby...as you see, we're having a little trouble persuading your young man to co-operate with us. I'm hoping you can make him see sense."

Darting a glance at Stephen, and seeing him shake his head, abby tilted her chin and gave Massey a hostile look. "If Stephen won't do what you want, what makes you think I will?"

Massey chuckled, and indicated for one of the guards to step forward. The man was brawny and sported an ugly scar across his face, giving his features a sinister slant. He looped his arm about abby from behind and lifted her off her feet, making as if to carry her off.

"She's all yours Kurten. Do with her as you will...just leave something for the other men, when you're finished..." Massey waved the guard away, taking the kicking and screaming abby with him. Just before Kurten exited the tent, Massey raised his hand and the man stopped. Approaching Stephen, who was struggling to get free, Massey stood just out of reach of Stephens feet.

"So, Mr. Hart, what do you say now? Do I consign Miss Maitland to the tender mercies of my men, or do you agree to do what I want, without a fight? The decision is yours."

Like a puppet whose strings have been cut, Stephen slumped in the arms of his captors, his head falling back as he sought and found abby's terrified eyes. Closing his own, Stephen nodded his defeat, the guard holding abby dropping her unceremoniously onto the dirt floor, where she lay panting.

"Thank you Kurten, your demonstration was entirely effective. Return the girl to the cage, unharmed, then come back here."

The men holding Stephen loosened the gag, but didn't loosen their hold on him, despite his air of compliance. The previously silent audience to the drama, now voiced their approval of Massey's tactics, by whooping and applauding, while Massey accepted their acclaim with a sardonic bow. Stephen knelt in the churned up dirt, where the guards had dropped him, the gag around his neck, his head bowed, eyes closed. Anger churned inside him, but he'd seen the light in Massey's eyes and knew that it would only take a flick of a finger to put abby back in a perilous position, and he never wanted to see that terror on her face again, as long as he lived. Whatever Massey wanted, he would do it. Anything to keep her safe.

Massey clapped his hands for silence and his guest all went quiet.

"Gentlemen...the hunt is on!!"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	23. Curuscating Light3

14/12/07

Title: Coruscating Light3

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note: Now back toAR5, where AR3Nick and AR5Helen are currently stationed.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Nick lay on the canvas bunk and listened to the raucous, nocturnal life beyond the tent wall. Night had fallen swiftly, the tree canopy blocking any view of a sunset or anything else. He wondered how Stephen and Abby were fairing, out in the primordial woods. After Massey had departed with half the men, the camp had been quiet, Helen taking herself off to do whatever she did, and only one man left to guard him during the rest of the afternoon. After a meal, Nick was directed to one of the tents and left to stew. He would have liked to have had the chance to explore the immediate area, to discover just what was making all those fascinating chirps and whistles. Certainly the nocturnal wildlife was more in evident than the daylight creatures. All he had managed to learn about Paleogene Period was that they were camping in a temperate zone, probably somewhere in the land mass that would one day become the British Isles, but at the moment was an small, triangular amorphous mass sitting somewhere south of what would later become Greenland. He felt a tremor pass through the cot, barely enough to register, but he recognised it for what it was, an earthquake. The Earth was still going through major upheavals, and he wondered just how stable the area was, his curiosity frustrated by inaction.

He'd been given little time to explore and even less time to discover just what was going on. Confined for the time being, his conversations with Helen kept repeating themselves, over and over in his head, her assertion that Massey could summon an anomaly at will, a process Nick had witnessed himself. Some of what Helen said, he didn't want to remember, her confession about her use for Stephen, that she and Massey had already used up several versions of the same man, like so much disposable tissue, and all to further a big game enterprise that used creatures from the past as trophies. He couldn't entirely believe that she was that cold hearted, or so blindly ignorant to think it could continue once he, Nick Cutter, knew the truth. But the truth was little use when you're stuck, like he was, in a time out of reach of anyone who could put what he knew to good use. What he needed was to get his hands on one of the boxes and get it back to the Home Office. Maybe then they'd have a fighting chance to shut down Massey and hopefully find a way to close the anomalies for good. Nick rubbed a hand over his face and stared at the canvas roof, the enormity of the damage already done to history and species making his brain seethe in outrage. He had to find a way to shut down the whole process making the anomalies in the first place, and seal off time from further erosion by Massey and his operation. He lay his arm over his eyes and tried to bring his thoughts in order, to come up with a plan to get himself back to the time he'd left, and find a way to save all their futures. The swish of canvas brought his head up.

"What do you want?"

Looking over her shoulder, Helen Cutter let the tent flap fall shut, blocking them off from the guard stationed outside.

"Whatever you may be thinking, put is aside for now and listen to me."

Sighing, Nick swung his legs around and sat up, turning his head to regard Helen with a sour expression. "So far, that's all I have been doing – listening to you, and I'm not liking what I'm hearing."

"Good. Nothing about this situation is nice, or easy or even palatable. It's why I brought you into it in the first place. Massey has to be stopped, and you're the man to do it."

Nick laughed softly. "I'm not exactly Indiana Jones material, Helen, and there's precious little I can do stuck here."

"Which is why we're getting out of here now."

Nick sat up straighter and stared at her. "What are you up to now?"

"Did you never wonder who was leaving you the clues? Who made sure you found what you were looking for? Hell, I gave you Dodo's, and saved Claudia..."

"The Dodo's were a ruse to give you time to escape, and Claudia...just why did you help her?"

"I had my reasons. Look, I don't have time to give you everything, but I'll tell you this. If you've found breadcrumbs, I've been the one leaving them. Alex has been a necessary evil, while I carried out my own work. I had to have him onside or...I'd never have done as much as I have."

"Or paid the price.." Nick gestured to her hair, the grey streaks more visible in the single lamp suspended from the roof. "So you're saying you're on our side, and now you want to stop Massey?"

Helen smiled crookedly. "I don't expect to be forgiven, I don't want to be. I did what I did at the time, for reasons I don't expect you to understand. I've been places, and seen things no person on any planet, in any time, has ever seen," Helen voice and face started to take on a euphoric look, Nick watching in wonder, as if he was seeing them as well. "You wouldn't believe the things I've seen Nick, so many answers to questions we've asked ourselves, so many new questions. I've seen the future...a future that could be changed, but it has to happen now!"

"Tell me Helen, what have you seen...what changed your mind?"

"No...I can't tell you Nick...but I can help you stop the anomaly process from getting worse, and possibly shut the whole system of portals down forever."

"Shut it down?" Nick stared at her incredulously. "Is that even an option?"

"I said possibly. I don't have all the answers, but this..." she reached into her knapsack and pulled out one of the gadgets used to open anomalies, "could go a long way to explaining some of them."

She handed the box like contraption to Nick, who handled it as if it was a bomb about to go off. "This is a working model?"

"And I have more," she patted the bag, "enough to give Lester the ability to play God."

"You're giving him Massey on a plate with this."

"I know. I've been planning this for some time. I just needed the right set of circumstances, and the right Nick Cutter to come my way."

"There's been others?"

"But none of them had the experience you've had Nick. You're the one to put things back the way they should be."

Handing the device back to his wife, Nick blew out his cheeks as he considered what had to happen now. "I have to trust you Helen, trust you with my life and everyone else's."

"I know Nick...a leap of faith, you could say."

"When do we go?" Nick stood up, ready to leave there and then. Helen tucked the device away before putting her hand out and placing it on his chest, forcing him to sit down again.

"Steady on there, Dr.Jones...opening the anomaly comes with risks, not least the guards placed around the camp, all likely to shoot us first and ask questions later."

"Then what do we do?"

"Wait. At least for a couple of hours until the first shift change. There's not a full compliment and there's bound to be gaps. I'll leave this here with you, and come back around midnight. I'll have to do something about the generators and that's going to draw a crowd, so be prepared to move at a moments notice...alright?"

"Whatever you say. Is there nothing I can do to help?"

"Make sure they don't lock me up again when we get back. Lester is bound to want to debrief me, and I'm of more use to you free, than in custody."

"I'll do what I can, Helen. You just have this unfortunate affect on people." Nick grinned at her, Helen returning his smile before turning her back to leave him.

"Just be ready."

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In the event, their escape was almost anticlimactic, the guards, as predicted, hardly bothering with their one prisoner. After a cursory bed check, the solitary guard took himself off for a late meal, leaving the opportunity to escape wide open. Helen slipped into the tent to find Nick already up and ready, the pair slipping out of the camp before the first diversion. As they passed through the outer perimeter of trees, and past the caged animals, the first explosion ripped apart one of the generators. Gouts of flame illuminated the night sky, along with the cries of the men as they hurried to investigate. Helen and Nick jogged in the opposite direction, only a short distance, before Helen called a halt and pulled out the device to summon the anomaly. Nick jumped back in surprise when the brightly glittering portal appeared out of thin air, the shards of light cutting the air like blades. Helen didn't wait, but plunged into it, Nick on her heels, the anomaly closing shut behind them. On the other side, they found a darkness illuminated with countless anomalies, the Nexus winking and revolving like so many dizzying carousels. Helen pointed the device at one anomaly after another, cursing under her breath as the one she wanted eluded her. Nick kept glancing nervously around, expecting at any moment for either Massey or one of his armed goons to appear and demand their surrender. Instead, Helen gave a whoop and sprinted towards one of the sparkling anomalies, Nick giving chase so that they fell through almost side by side into the dark world beyond.

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"And you want me to believe all this is true?" Lester's urbane drawl grated on Nick's nerves. Banging his fist down on the surface of the illuminated table, he tried again.

"Fine. Don't believe me...or Helen, for that matter. Believe the technology. That little box gives us a key to the anomalies, the key to time travel."

"Yes, so you keep saying." Lester slowly turned to face Nick, his eyes faking boredom.

"Look, I promised her you wouldn't lock her up. For God's sake, she's helping us!"

"Well, she's helped us before, according to you, and we've ended up in more trouble because of it."

"She's my wife!"

"Is she? You said yourself she's different, aged..who's to say she's not another Helen from another time, with another agenda she's convinced you to buy into?"

"She is..and she has. But I still believe her."

"Answer me this. If this woman you purport to be your wife is on your side, why didn't she return you to your own time, instead of back to the one you left to chase after Stephen?" Lester raised one autocratic eyebrow to underline the question. In frustration, Nick raked his fingers through his hair then thumped both fists on the table.

"Ask her yourself. I-I don't know why we didn't return there, maybe...maybe because that's not the time she comes from..."

"Well she's certainly not from here...the Helen Cutter of this time is still swanning around in South America, according to the last report."

"Helen will have her reasons...good ones. I trust her."

"How touching. Fortunately I'm not constrained by such sentimentality. Whoever, or whatever time and place she comes from, this Helen Cutter will remain in custody until I'm convinced otherwise..." Lester found himself cut off in mid sentence by a phone ringing on the wall. One of the guards in the room answered it, holding a terse conversation before turning to face the room, in particular, Lester.

"There's a problem sir!" The guard said, holding out the phone for Lester to take. Lester listened to whoever was on the other end of the line, his face impassive. Only once did the facade crack, his eyes flicking to where Nick sat at the table.

"I see. We'll be down directly. Do everything you can to delay matters."

Almost gently, Lester hung the phone up and turned to face the room, his hands hanging loose at his side. "Professor Cutter...Nick...it's your wife."

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Nick sat on the hard plastic chair and stared at the woman in the bed. Helen's face looked relaxed and unlined, as if she'd regressed twenty years in age, only the grey streaks belaying the illusion. A nurse was busy checking the drip, as well as monitoring the machinery quietly beeping to itself beside the patient.

"She just collapsed," Lester informed him in a subdued voice. "No warning, she just passed out. Doctor's have run a full CT scan, and it appears that she is suffering a system wide collapse of her major organs. They're running blood tests now, but the prognosis isn't good." Lester paused, seeing Nick wince. "Did she mention anything about ill health to you?"

"She..." Nick cleared his throat and tried again. "She said the anomalies had caused her to age, but nothing else, a by product of time travel, she said."

"Nothing more?"

Nick just shook his head. It was all turning into a nightmare. He thought of the Helen he'd met when he'd first arrived in this time zone, the virago that railed at him in her usual acerbic way, then taken herself off to South America. She'd looked as she'd always looked, no evidence that she'd been jetting between time portals, only her tongue proving that some things never changed. That woman was a far cry from the one laying still and quiet before him. The steady beat of the heart monitor faded into the background as he tried to sort out, in his mind, just how he felt about his wife.

He had mourned her, so long, his own Helen, eight years of not knowing, then suddenly she was back in his life, as disruptive and controversial as ever. When the day came and she exploded his world by revealing her affair with Stephen, it had shattered his illusions about a great many things, and worse it hadn't even been the Stephen from his original world, but a parallel time, that Stephen getting dragged into another time and place along with Nick. Since then, he'd met the Helen from this world, and rediscovered Claudia Brown, had rekindled his affair with the girl from the Home Office and taken it to it's obvious conclusion. All the different women were becoming a blur in his mind, the time shifts messing with his ability to tell them apart, in his head and in his heart. On some level he knew that the woman dying before his eyes, was probably not the Helen he knew in his own time, not the woman he had known and mourned, but that said, it was still Helen.

Groaning at the paradox that his life had become, Nick reached for the limp hand resting on the sheet and enclosed it in his own. Whichever Helen lay like a ghost in the bed, she was still connected to him, had tried to end the madness being perpetuated by Alex Massey across Earth's primeval history, for that alone he would regret her passing.

Helen stirred, her eyes blinking slowly open. Nick squeezed her hand and she turned her head in his direction. She tried to speak, but nothing emerged, her throat working as she tried again.

"I'll get you some water, hang on." Nick released her hand and reached for the water jug, pouring a glass, then holding her head up for her to drink. After several sips, he placed the glass back on the side table and sat down.

"I'm sorry Nick...I thought I had more time."

"Why didn't you say? If I'd known you were so sick..."

"Didn't realise myself. Thought it was only limited to wrinkles and grey hair," Helen tried to laugh, but it came out as a weak thread of sound, her eyes closing briefly before she fixed him with an over bright stare. "Does Lester believe you...are we in time to stop Massey?"

"Plenty of time...Lester has the box, and I've told him everything I know. I passed on all that you brought with us. Lester has his team working on it right now."

"They have to shut down the anomalies...as many as possible."

"He'll do that, Helen, don't worry."

"Make sure Nick...don't let him get away...there's more than one Massey out there...be careful."

"With everything you've given us, we'll make sure Massey doesn't slip through the net. Rest Helen, you've done all you can." He held her hand again, bringing it to his lips and kissing the paper thin skin over the knuckles. "You should have told me Helen..."

"It was easier not to. Thought I'd have time...to make...a grand...exit..." Helen's voice started to falter, her eyes becoming unfocused. The heart monitor started an accelerated beeping as Helen's heart rate soared. "Nick? Nick?"

Jumping up, Nick leant over the bed, smoothing his free hand over her face to reassure her he was still there. Helen stared upwards, blind and panicked, a tear spilling from the corner of her eye and tracing down her temple.

"Nick...I'm sorry...I wasn't the wife you...should have had."

"Shhh...you were who you were Helen," Nick swallowed, his hand gripping hers as if to will her back to health. "We were always the pair, you and I."

The heart monitor was galloping, several Nurses bursting into the room and starting their emergency procedure. Nick was pushed out of the way, Helen's hand still clutched in his even as his wife's body convulsed, arching off the bed for a second before collapsing back, spent and limp. Her eyes were still open, but now not seeing anything, the monitor letting out a continuous tone, a flat line on the screen where before it had shown erratic spikes. The fingers clutched in his were lax, boneless and cold, the essence of life gone from her touch, as the light from her eyes.

The bustle of the Nurses calling their various procedures washed over him, Helen's hand finally pulled from his as the women worked around and over Helen, Nick feeling drained and incredibly tired. The figure on the bed no longer resembled the woman he'd known, the vibrant and passionate woman who had always pursued her own agenda, often to the detriment of his own. Never mind that this was not his Helen, that fact was irrelevant.

Lester appeared in the doorway as the Nurses started to detach the drip and other paraphernalia from Helen's body, a Doctor pronouncing the time of death before closing the corpses eyes with his hand. Nick leant against the wall, unseeing, unfeeling even as Lester came over and led him out of the hospital room to one further down the hall. Later a hot drink was pressed into Nick's hand and he could hear voices around him, but not make out the words. A familiar perfume penetrated his numbness, Claudia Brown sitting beside him, talking to him, his head coming up to stare at her, his eyes watching her lips move but not understanding what she was saying. Whatever it was, it didn't matter, not now. He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and steered out of the waiting room, down the corridor and out of the building to a car waiting outside. He functioned on autopilot, hardly noticing the passing traffic, or the passage of time. At length the car door opened and Claudia was there again, handing him out of the vehicle and up the stairs into the house he was using, the house that belonged to another Nick and Helen Cutter, both of them unaware of the death of the woman at the hospital.

Like an automaton, Claudia Brown steered Nick into the downstairs bedroom, where, not so long ago, this same man had turned her world upside down and made love to her with a passion that ignited her soul. This same man had now suffered the loss of a woman that could have been the wife he left behind in his own time, but they couldn't confirm it as a fact. They only knew that she had handed them Alex Massey on a plate, along with the ways and means to take control of the anomaly situation. Nick was unresisting as she prepared him for bed, only when he was sitting on the side and she tried to get him to lay down did he surface from his introspection.

"I loved her once...so many years ago...loved her, worked with her, married her...and you know what?"

"What?" Claudia asked, her hands resting softly on his shoulders.

"I don't know what to feel anymore."

He looked at her then, really looked at her for the first time in hours, his eyes welling up with tears that brimmed over and traced wet lines down his face. He looked so lost and fractured, she did the only thing she could. Wrapping her arms around him, she lay them both down on the bed, Nick accepting her offer of consolation and allowed, for once, someone else to carry the burden for a time, content to let someone else make the decisions, just for a little while.

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"I want a full autopsy on this woman. I want to know what she died of as soon as it's possible."

"Of course, Sir Lester...I'll get the report to you as soon as it's finished. It'll take some time to process the blood work and other tests..."

"Give me a preliminary report once you have a broad idea of cause of death. The details can be followed up when they become available."

"As you wish."

Lester gave the man a nod, dismissing him from his mind and his attention. Whatever they learnt from Helen Cutter's unfortunate and untimely demise might just prevent the same thing happening to the men he intended to send through the anomaly to break up Massey's operation. It wasn't the big game aspect that caused Lester to lose sleep at night, it was more to do with the misuse of all that valuable technology and the potential disaster looming with the possible changes being wrought in history. So far, Massey had concentrated his efforts on periods before the advent of man, although there was the report of the future predator thrown in for good measure among the more prehistoric encounters. It proved it was possible to travel back and forth in time. What if Massey decided to impinge on periods of Human history and really muck up the course of human development. It didn't bear thinking of. The Intel given to them by Helen would provide them the edge to root out Massey and his entire organisation, a thought that gave Lester a warm feeling in his gut. Of course, as a by product of this clean up job, they'd probably find the missing personnel, and maybe even be able to return the people out of time, back to their own times. All in all, it gave him a sense of satisfaction to know that it would be his department that garnered the kudos for shutting down possibly the biggest threat to the future history of his time. Of course, that would be tempered with the knowledge that precious few people would be aware of just what had happened, or James Lester's part in it. Never mind, maybe he'd think about retiring on the back of this campaign. All this fiddling around with history and time was giving him a monumental mother of all headaches and he'd be glad when it was all over.

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tbc...


	24. Effulgent Light

21/12/07

Title: Effulgent Light

Author: Squeezynz

**Authors Note**: Back to AR4 and the Stephen's and Abby's. AR1Stephen is being used by the Massey's to head a big hunt for as yet unnamed top predator.

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Stephen wiped the sweat from his eyes and tried to concentrate on the tracks criss-crossing the beaten earth of the animal run leading to the water hole. The vegetation was thick on either side of the path, providing ample opportunity for any of the predators prevalent in the Jurassic to launch an ambush attack on the party of puny humans currently strung out behind him. Several times he felt the pressure of reptile eyes on him, his instincts screaming at him to run away and get high, out of reach of the razor teeth and talons waiting to rend him limb from limb. He had repeatedly told Massey it was madness, to attempt to hold a big game hunt in a time when Humans were significantly low on the food chain. Even the impressive array of weaponry did little to put Stephens worries to rest. It was certainly all very high tech and powerful, but none of the men expecting to bag a trophy had any experience with the sheer size and speed of some of the most intelligent hunters spawned in the Jurassic. If they were lucky, they'd manage to avoid any of the large predators altogether, and have to return empty handed, their skins still intact. Even as he pondered the possibility, a wry grin split his serious face. The hunters behind him were out for blood, and nothing less would be acceptable.

They'd already been presented with a variety of herbivores of differing shapes and sizes, all of them admired but dismissed as contenders for trophies. Always, they'd moved on, leaving the giant dinosaurs in their wake, ever watchful for spore to lead them to the predator that would be feeding on the prey all around them. With the shorts hairs at his nape prickling, he know exactly how a hapless goat felt being hunted by a tiger. Holding up his hand, he crouched down, the better to study the confusing wealth of prints marking the hard-packed dirt around him.

"We've wasted enough time, Mister Hart!" Massey's drawl sounded close behind him, making Stephen grit his teeth.

"You can hardly expect me to produce a predator on demand. This is a track leading to a waterhole so, in all likely hood, there is a resident predator stalking this path and the prey that use it."

"Which predator?" One of the hunters came forward and asked, his voice as gruff as a bear.

"That's what I'm trying to determine." Stephen ground out, his jaw aching with the effort of not telling these men just what he thought of them, and their insane hunt. He traced the outline of a print with one finger, a muscle twitching in his lean cheek in response to his brain recognising the unmistakable outline of one of the most deadly of reptiles. Using his hand to measure the span, he figured it was still a juvenile, possibly staking it's first territory, the path to the waterhole providing easy prey for a youngster just learning how to kill.

"What is it?" Massey asked, leaning down to stare at the print fascinating Stephen. "A raptor?"

"No. They hunt in packs, in more open country," Stephen muttered, clenching his hand into a fist, "this is a single predator, hunting alone." Stephen rose up and started towards the bushes on one side of the track. Massey and the others followed, the faint sound of buzzing becoming louder as Stephen pushed apart some of the shrubbery to see what they hid. The unmistakable stench of corruption rose up from the damp forest floor, a shaft of sunlight illuminating a scene of carnage and death.

"What a gawd-awful smell," one of the hunters exclaimed, the sound of gagging coming from another.

Stephen studied the kills, judging as best he could the age of each victim, and the bit radius of the predator that eviscerated them. "They're all juveniles, babies. Whatever is using this path, isn't fully grown, and only taking easy prey." He pointed to a sizable bite wound on the flank of one of the carcasses. "The radius is less than a meter, same with the bit pattern on this one."

"But what is it? And how do we find it?" One hunter asked, curling his lips and batting at the cloud of flies darkening the air.

Stephen didn't answer, turning his back on the charnel pit and walking back they way they'd come. The other's followed, keeping a wary eye as they left the buzzing scene behind them. Massey quickened his step and grabbed Stephen's arm to stop him.

"He asked a question...what are we hunting?"

"Us...hunting? More like what is hunting us," Stephen replied, shaking off Massey's hand and glancing around at the enveloping vegetation. "Look...you've seen enough to satisfy any hunter. You've passed up enough game trophy's to decorate the Coliseum three times around. Why not leave it at that, why risk any more?"

"What are you afraid of, Mister Hart? We have enough fire power to bring down a herd of dinosaurs. All we're asking for, is one decent predator. Have you forgotten your little friends predicament?" Massey held up the walky talky he used to communicate with the men left back at the open anomaly. "Do you really need another demonstration?"

"No dammit. Leave Abby alone. I'm here, aren't I."

"In body, but not in spirit. I'd almost believe you've lost your nerve, if I hadn't seen you in action before, and know what you are capable of. We're here to bag a predator, Mister Hart, and won't be leaving until we do!"

As if on cue, the distant roar of something large and probably sporting an impressive array of teeth, sounded in the distance. Every head turned in that direction, the click of safety's coming off loud in the sudden quiet. Another, answering roar sounded closer, Stephen pushing ahead of the men and stepping out onto the beaten track, the hunters following suit and spreading out on either side of him. Whatever they'd been stalking, was coming towards them, the crash of something large moving through the undergrowth making everyone focus on the track ahead. Stephen frowned, and looked in the opposite direction, something about the situation not ringing true. Why would an ambush predator be making so much noise as to drive away any possible prey? The roar of the oncoming dinosaur was better placed to drive any prey towards them, the idea popping into his head, even as another sound alerted him to scan the vegetation on the other side of the path.

"Massey...we've made a huge miscalculation. We need to get everybody out of here as quickly as possible."

"Rubbish. You've done your job, now let us do ours. Ready everyone?"

A chorus of assents from the hunters was his reply, all the men positioning themselves on either side of the path for the best shot at the oncoming reptile. Stephen felt his skin prickle, and reached for the gun that wasn't where he usually tucked it.

"Massey, give me a gun."

"Sorry dear boy, no can do."

"For God's sake. This is all wrong. At least give me a fighting chance!"

"I was wrong, you have lost your nerve." Massey sneered, some of the hunters laughing at the mans comment.

Stephen swore and backed away, his eyes darting from left to right, certain that the oncoming predator was only the diversion. A small movement to his right made him crouch down, the other men all still focused on the sporadic roars still issuing from up ahead. As he stared, the head of a sub adult Torvosaurus poked its snout through the concealing bushes, its nostrils flaring as it scented the proximity of its intended prey. A might crash announced the arrival of the parent onto the animal trail, the huge reptile appearing out of nowhere and standing, almost posing, for the hunters ranged across the trail. Like everyone else, Stephen stared in awe at the theropod, the youngster forgotten long enough for it to disappear from his sight when he looked for it again.

Stephen judged the creature up ahead to be nearly thirty feet from snout to tail, its impressive array of teeth clearly visible as it opened its jaws to scream defiance at the puny prey in its path. The youngster he'd seen briefly, was a mere fraction, barely half the size of the parent. Even so, he wasn't about to dismiss it and kept watching the surrounding dense vegetation for evidence of its location.

"Is it a T-Rex?" One of the hunters asked, his voice loud with excitement.

"No." Stephen replied, "but no less deadly for not being one. There's another in the bushes beside us, a juvenile...probably the offspring of the one up ahead."

One of the hunters misfired, the shot hitting wide of the mark and sending shards of bark showering over the waiting dinosaur. It flinched and lowered its head, preparing to charge the group of impertinent food standing in the way. The creature roared a challenge, the cry echoed from alongside the trail by the youngster, several of the hunters swinging their guns around to cover the bushes, only now realising their danger. Stephen had no choice but to stay with the group, his chances alone slim to nothing with the young Torvosaurus looking to make a kill.

The large adult was starting to advance on the group of hunters, its eyes intent on the puny humans, its large feet sending tremors through the ground that Stephen felt through his boots. Another hunter took a potshot, this time hitting the Torvosaurus on the shoulder, the creature bellowing in pain and swinging its massive head about to find out what bit it. At almost the same moment, one of the men at the side of the trail found himself in the jaws of the youngster, the man's gun discharging on automatic and spraying several others, who screamed as bullets found flesh and bone. Egged on by the smell of blood and the panicked cries of the prey, the adult advanced at a steady trot, its huge head gaping in anticipation as it gained ground, only a few of the hunters having the presence of mind to fire on the dinosaur, even fewer finding their target in the melee. The man held in the jaws of the juvenile had gone quiet, the deadly teeth of the reptile sending arterial blood in all directions.

Stephen made to get the man's gun, the other hunters now panicking and firing indiscriminately at the two predators, with little effect as many of the shots went wild, two more men becoming victims of friendly fire even as Stephen reached the gun and brought it up to fire point blank in the face of the Torvosaurus. Lowering it's head, the reptile swept men from it's path like a battering ram. Stephen found himself knocked to the ground, a heavy body pinning him until someone grabbed his hand and hauled him back onto his feet.

"Get us out of here!" Massey screamed in his face, the cries of the injured around them becoming lost in the repeated blasts of gunfire and bellows from the giant predator now laying waste all around. The smaller predator had left the scene but now returned, snatching another man by the arm, severing the limb in its haste to secure its prey. Massey grabbed Stephen and roughly shoved the younger man back along the trail, leaving his party of hunters to survive or not as the Torvosaurus used its tail to sweep some of them off their feet, its head darting down to finish the kill before any of them had a chance to fire on it. Massey continued to shove and push Stephen down the path, the carnage behind them only slightly muted by the growing distance between them. Some of the men, the few remaining still on their feet, broke and ran, leaving the dead and dying to the carnivores, chasing after Massey and Stephen, running for their lives.

Stephen stumbled and fell, the action probably saving his life. Out of the bushes appeared the juvenile, its head knocking Massey to the ground before it buried its snout in the man's midriff, Massey's screams quickly turning to blood choked gurgles as the creature eviscerated him. The other men kept on running, leaving Stephen behind. Dazed from his fall, he could only watch as Massey's body was dragged away, the juvenile taking the corpse as its own trophy to show its parent. The screams from those that had been shot or trampled had fallen silent, the reptiles now busy about the business of eating. Thankful, and frankly amazed to be still alive, Stephen got carefully to his feet and started to move further away down the trail until the creatures were lost around a bend. Shaking, he set off after the surviving hunters, his feet pounding the dirt a welcome distraction from the memory of the screams still ringing in his head.

Up ahead, he could hear the other men shouting to each other, and to the men stationed around the anomaly. Stephen didn't know if it was just dumb luck that they'd managed to arrive at precisely the right place, but either way the anomaly was where they'd left it, the men around it looking spooked and edgy. The few hunters that had returned, were explaining what had happened even as Stephen stumbled into the clearing, guns immediately swinging around to fix on him.

"Woah...not the enemy here." He kept his hands raised until the men lowered their guns. "Look, we need to get out of here immediately." He pointed to the hunters and their blood soaked clothing. "That's only going to draw more predators, and possibly the ones we left behind, as well."

"We should go back...see if anyone is still alive!" One of the men suggested, garnering disbelieving looks from the survivors.

"Fuck that!" replied one, "I just want to get the hell out of here."

A roar from nearby cemented the general consensus, the men turning almost as one towards the anomaly and the safety it offered. Stephen made to follow the hunters, but was stopped by one of the guards.

"Hey, what gives?" Stephen, staring in disbelief at the hand planted on his chest.

"Where's Massey?"

"He didn't make it...the juvenile got him." Stephen explained, another roar from behind them making him bat the man's hand away. "If you want to stop me, you'd better shoot me, because I'm not sticking around here any longer!"

The guard only hesitated a second before waving Stephen towards the anomaly with the barrel of his gun. Within seconds they were all through the sparkling portal, the guard shutting it down on the other side with his black box.

They were back at the Nexus, the guards looking warily at the sparkling portals as if expecting something big and toothy to come through after them. The hunters were in little better shape, their eyes darting back and forth, faces liberally splattered with the blood of their former comrades. Stephen kept well clear of both parties. He's lost the hunters gun, but he had a handgun shoved into the back of his waistband, undiscovered so far by any of the men around him. If he was lucky, they wouldn't bother to search him before they prepared to return him to the cage. Before then he hoped to give them the slip and attempt a rescue of his own.

"This is the one," announced one of the guards, waving everyone forward. Just as the first man entered the anomaly, another anomaly sparked into life right beside it, and an black ops uniformed figure burst through, his gun raised. The hunters and remaining guards instantly raised their weapons, one of the hunters loosing a shot off in panic. That sparked a flurry of gunfire, as more black ops appeared through their anomaly. Stephen ducked then dived through the one leading back to the camp, tucking and rolling on the other side to avoid the bullets following him through. One hit the man that had gone ahead of him, the same one that held the black box that controlled the anomaly. In reflex, the man thumbed the button to close the portal, stranding the surviving hunters and him own mates on the other side to the mercy of the special forces. Before it closed completely a bullet found its way through and hit the guard square in the head, dropping him to the ground, the black box falling from his hand.

Stephen stared at the dead man in shock, the events of the last few seconds too unbelievable to take in. Panting, he reached for the black box, at the same time hearing shouts from the camp as the men there responded to the shots fired and the scream of the man hit. Tucking the box inside his jacket, Stephen crouched low and hurried away from the scene, putting as much distance between him and the dead guard as possible. Circling around, he approached the camp from the opposite direction from the anomaly site, his gun now in his hand. He only had the one clip so he'd have to make every bullet count if they found him. He could see the center of the camp from his position, and now kept watch from the safety of a hastily constructed hiding place

The men who had gone to investigate the gun shots were now returning to the camp with the body of the guard. The second Massey was there to greet them, shouting and gesticulating, his movements erratic and jerky as he tried to learn just what had happened. Whatever his men told him, it didn't make him any happier.

Crouched in the undergrowth, some a little distance from the nearest tent, Stephen paused to take stock. The adrenaline that had given power to his legs, was draining away, leaving him shaking and sweaty. He dropped the gun to the ground and covered his face with his hands. It was one thing to study a creature's bones and make educated guesses as to what it looked like and how it behaved, it was quite another to have been in that creatures natural domain and see it up close and personal, as he'd done only an hour or so earlier. He did his best to banish the images of the men torn apart and their screams, instead concentrating on the black ops seen coming through another anomaly. He tried to fathom what it could mean. The special forces would only be activated under the command of the Home Office, so did it mean that somehow Nick had managed to get a message to Lester? Had the scientists managed to create the necessary technology to allow them to travel through the anomalies like Massey? Was it a rescue party? Shaking his head, he discounted the last option. He was hardly important enough to have a party of special ops searching time for him, Stephen Hart. Smiling to himself, he hoped it meant the Nick had somehow escaped the combined clutches of Helen and Massey and found his way back to the time they'd been in, or maybe, by some fluke of luck, to his own time. Thinking about his own time, inevitably brought him back to think about his doppelganger currently held in the hospital tent, as well as the two Abby's being held prisoner in the cages. A wave of weariness swept over him, the after effects of his near death experience with the Torvosaurus. He needed to rest and recover if he was to have any chance of getting them all away from the camp and out of Massey's clutches once and for all.

Even as he wriggled to find a comfortable position on the damp ground his thoughts were throwing up a barrage of brick walls he'd need to over come, to effect a successful escape. Yes, he had one of the black boxes to create an anomaly, but not the knowledge of how to use it, or how to find the right anomaly to take him and the others home. Yes, he had a gun, but only a few bullets, and certainly not enough to hold off a camp full of angry, armed men, and Massey. Yes, he was free, but how long could he last without food and water, and could he get those from the camp without being caught? Exhausted, both in body and mind, Stephen closed his eyes and for all intents and purposes, passed out, the worries of being a hero relegated to the back of his mind as his body attempted to repair some of the ravages of his nerve wracking ordeal.

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tbc...


	25. Effulgent Light2

28/12/07

Title: Effulgent Light2

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note: Yes, I know you're pretty tired of these by now, but they are rather essential to keep track of who's where and in what time – for me, let alone for you!!! A bit shorter than usual, but this is really just a set of bridging scenes before the action.

We're now returning to AR2, where we follow AR3Nick Cutter, AR2Claudia Brown, James Lester and Connor Temple as they attempt to shut down the anomalies using the technology AR5Helen Cutter brought with her before she died.

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James Lester looked up as Nick Cutter entered the control room. To the Home Office official, the professor appeared to have aged ten years, despite the twenty four hours allowed him to recover from his trip to the past, return to the present and death of his wife. Of course, it hadn't really been Cutter's wife, but another time-copy, as Lester was starting to call them. As far as he was concerned, anyone not of his own time, was a copy of the original, and would be referred to as such. Nick was one such copy himself, having usurped the original Nick Cutter who, it was presumed, was still wandering the past, or the future or was dead, a meal for a hungry predator. Lester shrugged inwardly and dismissed the conundrum. He had enough on his plate dealing with the crisis at hand, let alone dealing with multiple copies of people in the present.

"You look like hell." Lester remarked dryly

"Nice to see you too," Cutter retorted, wiping a hand over his face before standing, hands on hips, and looking at the screens displaying various remote camera shots. Amazingly, the signals from the camera's attached to the helmets of the special forces who had gone through the anomalies, were beaming back perfectly, unaffected by traveling through rips in time. It gave Lester and his coordinators a direct view of what his men were facing, giving them the ability to direct the operations with precise instructions. So far, Operation Primeval was proceeding relatively smoothly, the rounding up of Rhino Corporation personnel all going according to plan. With the information smuggled to them by Helen Cutter, they had clear Intel of where and, more importantly when to find the numerous camps created in the different time zones. With remarkable speed they were overtaking the camps one by one and returning with the captured men and weapons with little resistance. The cells in the basement were rapidly filling with disgruntled ex employees of Massey's.

Some of the camps on the list were all but abandoned, only a token force left to keep the basic operations running. The operation would follow, that once they were tagged and bagged, the anomalies would be shut down and as much evidence as possible removed from the past. There were several teams working the operation but it would take some time to finalize the clean up before all the anomalies could be shut down for good. Each team were also on the look out for the missing members of Cutter's team, namely Stephen Hart and Abby Maitland, Helen unable to supply the exact camp where they would be found.

It was also unknown how they would, or could, find the time that Cutter came from originally. None of the information in Helen's notebooks or paperwork pointed to the answer. Lester had made sure that not one word or scrap of information was overlooked, but so far, nothing pointed to a way to return the Professor to his true time. There were any number he could travel too, but there was little guarantee that he'd find his own even with years of trying, and once the system of anomalies were shut down, the choices would be narrowed to zero. For now, Cutter was going to have to resign himself to living in his, Lester's, time. Having read between the lines of Claudia Brown's report, it was clear there were plenty of inducements for the Professor, not least the return of his lover, albeit not his original. It was clear, since his arrival, that hadn't stopped him picking up where he left off. That Claudia herself was equally besotted, only strengthened the argument for Cutter to remain exactly where he was.

"Any sign of Stephen or Abby?" Cutter asked, turning a burning look on the Home Office man.

"Not yet, but it's still early days. The men are aware...loosely...of the situation, and will effect any rescue when required. So far they've accessed ten percent of the camps on that list...this is going to take time."

"Time they may not have," Nick muttered, a burst of gun fire from one of the screens focusing everyones attention on the action taking place.

Zzzzzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzzzz

Claudia worried at a nail, her eyes unfocused as she sat in an adjoining office, Connor busily tapping away at his lap top on the other side of the desk. After hearing his companion utter another sigh, Connor lifted his head and regarded the attractive woman with exasperation.

"I don't know why you're not in there with him."

"What? Oh...yes, I suppose I should be," Claudia yawned, covering her mouth at the last moment. "Sorry, didn't get much sleep last night...and no, I don't mean what I know you're thinking."

"I wasn't thinking anything," Connor looked wounded, but couldn't entirely hide the smirk creeping over his face. "I mean, if it was me...well, I'm just saying..."

"Is it that obvious?" Claudia asked, sitting up and putting her elbows on the desk.

"Kinda...none of my business of course, all been rather intense lately."

"Exactly."

"And then there's all this business with...er..." Connor stammered to a halt, flushing as he realised how crass it was to mention Cutter's recent loss.

"Exactly." Claudia repeated, this time with a pained look that made Connor wince in sympathy.

Connor ducked his head and let his fingers fly over the keyboard, giving Claudia some much needed space. In her heart of hearts she knew there was a real possibility that the way would be found for Nick to be returned to his own time, and his own Claudia. Even thinking about it made a shaft of pain pierce her like a knife, her hand coming up to rub between her breasts in an unconscious soothing motion. Nick's grief had been very real, his tears soaking her blouse as she held him, his emotions rubbed raw by all that had happened. After the initial outpouring, they'd both slept, fully clothed, on top of the covers until dawn, when Nick had got up to use the bathroom, then not returned. Claudia had gone in search of him and found him stretched out in the master bedroom, fast asleep in the bed his other self would have shared with his Helen. Just thinking about all the convoluted relationships between the four people involved gave her a headache. It had hurt that he'd left her alone and gone to sleep elsewhere, but on some level, it was also a relief. What she had with Nick was still too new, too intense to allow for what they were going through. She only hoped that when the time came to let him go back to his own time, if it became possible, she would have the strength to do so. Another pain lanced through her and she got up, staring blindly out the window at the rain trickling down the glass.

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Back in the control room, Nick and Lester watched on a monitor as another cell of Rhino corp employees were rounded up and escorted from their makeshift camp back through the anomaly.

"You have to admire this Massey," Lester drawled, flicking a glance over at Cutter.

"Admiration isn't on my list of feelings, given what I know," Nick replied, folding his arms over his chest and tilting his chin.

"I was referring more specifically at the technology he managed to develop. We've only barely started to scratch the surface of its capabilities, let alone applications of this equipment."

"Applications? What possible applications are you thinking about? What warped plans are you hatching?"

"Harsh professor, very harsh. What did you think we'd do? Shut everything down, tidy it all up, then burn everything on a bonfire of your vanities?"

Nick gaped at the Home Office man for several seconds, his arms dropping to his sides, fists clenching in anger.

"Pretty much!" Nick retorted, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Then you are nave. Certainly Massey and his petty plans in regards trophies is hardly what I'd call worthy of the endless possibilities this technology suggests. It will all require extensive study. Could take years to fully realise its potential."

"Over my dead body. What you're suggesting can only have one purpose...to change human history. That's really what your saying!"

"Think of it. The possibility to return to a point in time and prevent something diabolical happening." Lester continued as if Nick hadn't spoken.

"You're as crackers as Massey, if you think you can tinker with the past to suit your own purposes. Whatever changes you think you can make will only result in the end of the world as we know it, and God knows what other disasters could replace the ones you hope to alter."

Lester finally turned to face Nick, his face infuriatingly calm and unruffled in face of Nick flustered outrage. "Of course, you do have a valid point, and it's quite possible that once everything is taken into account, that decision could still be the final outcome."

"Then..." Nick interrupted, only to have Lester hold up his hand to stop him saying anything further.

"But that won't be for you or me, or even the Home Office to decide. Our immediate concern is shutting down Massey's operation, finding Mister Hart and Miss Maitland, and returning things back to the way they were."

"An impossibility, unless you know of some way to find the missing Nick Cutter of your time, and returning me to mine."

"We're working on it." Lester replied, his lips lifting in a smirk. "Ah, I see they've brought another batch of residents for the cells. I need to oversee the interrogation, find out if they know anything of our missing people. Care to come along?"

Nick opened and shut his mouth a couple of times, before letting out a big breath, a reluctant smile tilting his lips. "Nothing I say makes any impression on you, does it?"

"I wouldn't be a government hatchet man if it did, would I?" Lester made to go, then turned back. "I do understand your concerns, and will express them as fully as I am able, in my report."

"Does anyone pay attention to those?"

"Sometimes. Depends on who reads them. Until later." Giving Nick a mocking salute, Lester left the control room, the door swinging shut behind him.

Nick shook his head. Sparring with Lester was like trying to get a grip on a slippery eel, the Home Office man too good at his job for Nick to make any headway with him. With a final glance at the monitor showing the current view of a team of special forces entering yet another anomaly, Nick left the control room in search of Connor and Claudia. He felt in dire need of two things – a drink to take the bitter taste out of his mouth, and a shower. He suddenly felt very grubby.

Zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzz

On one of the monitors, a special forces operative exited an anomaly to find himself facing a small army of Massey's men, all heavily armed but looking the worse for wear, who started to fire. More special forces appeared behind the first man who had dropped to one knee and returned fire, exchanging shots with the ragged men standing in the middle of the nexus. Behind the knot of bloody hunters, the slim figure of a dark haired man slipping through another anomaly and away from the hail of bullets, was clearly visible for a brief second, none of the special forces recognising Stephen Hart before he was gone, lost to them before they realised he was even there.

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tbc...


	26. Terminal Light

3/01/08

Title: Terminal Light

Author: Squeezynz

Author's Note: Yup, can't resist. We're heading back to AR5, where we left the two pairs of Stephen and Abby.(Ch.24) Just to recap how to tell the couples apart. AR1Stephen and Abby are in capitals. AR2stephen and abby are in lower case. More easily, AR2stephen is injured already, while AR1Stephen is hale and hearty, albeit a little bloodied from his brush with the pair of Torvosaurus.

If I get the two mixed up along the way, I apologise...do let me know if I do!!

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Abby stared at the darkening forest and wondered for the umpteenth time how they were going to get out of their current situation alive. Her twin was sitting with her arms about her knees close by, both women apparently lost in thought as to the fate of their respective men folk. Abby didn't know which was worse, to know her stephen was suffering in a medical tent mere feet from where she sat, or to know that the other Stephen was probably in mortal danger on one of Massey's foolhardy hunts. The other girl had told her what had happened in the tent, how Massey had used her to coerce Stephen into doing what the man wanted, a shudder shaking both girls as they pondered their possible fate if the hunt went wrong and Massey needed someone to be a scapegoat.

Their guards had been reduced to one, with the men absent from the adjoining cage, the women deemed no threat shut up behind the metal bars. They'd been given water but little else, bar one trip to the port-a-loo to take care of business. Now the light was dying from the day, the shadows of the trees lengthening and casting dark hollows over the ground. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, but she was careful to make her movements small, so not to attract the attention of their bored guard. Turning her head she scanned the undergrowth where she thought she'd seen the movement. Even as she swept her eyes over the scrubby shrubs, she saw the branches part and a pair of intensely blue eyes catch hers in a look that willed her not to react. A small nod was her only acknowledgment of Stephen's arrival, then he was gone after a quick hand signal indicated he was going to circle around behind the guard.

Keeping her excitement firmly under control, Abby shifted around until she had her back to the guard, and faced her twin.

"abby!" she hissed, the other girl quickly raising her head to stare back at her.

"What?"

"Don't react...but I've just seen Stephen...off to the left..."

Apart from a widening of her expressive eyes, the other abby managed to keep herself under control. "Stephen...?"

"He's going to circle around and take out the guard...be ready."

Swallowing down the hope blossoming in her heart, abby did as her counterpart suggested and feigned disinterest and forced boredom when their guard decided to stretch his legs and take a turn around the cages piled up around them. The circuit took no longer than a few minutes, but time enough for Stephen to get himself into position.

The girls shifted themselves on the hard floor to give themselves a better view of their guard at his post, the gun hanging loosely off his arm. Careful to avoid staring at the man, they kept their heads down, and peeped from under their similar blond fringes, the shadows aiding them as the last of the light turned to dusk. So silent was Stephen, they almost missed the moment he encircled the guards throat, strangling any cry, and dragged the man back into the undergrowth, the sound of a blow just reaching the girls in the cage.

Seconds later Stephen was at the bars, abby flying across, reaching for him, despite the metal barrier between them. Heated kisses and murmured endearments were all to hurriedly exchanged before Stephen reluctantly let abby go, his breathing a trifle hectic.

"I'll have to pick the lock, the guard didn't have a key," he informed them, glancing over his shoulder before crouching down to exam the lock. "I don't suppose you have a piece of wire of a hair pin on you?"

Both girls shook their heads, then Abby snapped her fingers. "Underwire!" before turning her back and starting to fumble under her leather jacket. Within a few seconds she produced a length of thin, curved wire, handing it to her cell mate to pass on to Stephen. Grinning, he set to work, the lock giving way after a minute of two of effort, both girls stepping through the narrow gap as Stephen pulled the door open only far enough for them to get through.

Abby stood back as her two companions once more engaged in some mutual reassurances, the reunion brought to a hasty conclusion with the sound of a generator firing up somewhere close by. Grabbing abby's hand, Stephen led the two women behind the tents, over the body of the unconscious guard and out into the trees. He knew it wouldn't be too long before the guards' absence was noted, giving them precious time to get clear. There was also the small matter of the other stephen, presumably still being held in the medical tent.

They continued in silence until Stephen reached where he'd stashed his small collection of gear.

"This is one of their control boxes. See if you can work out how to operate it by the time I get back."

"Where are you going?" abby asked, clutching at his jacket. She hated feeling this needy, but she couldn't help herself.

"To get myself of course," Stephen answered, giving a cocky grin and an impudently raised eyebrow, before slinking off into the gloom of the gathering darkness.

Abby patted the other girl on the shoulder when she continued to stare after her rescuer. "Don't worry, he seems to have the knack of surviving just about anything."

"I know. Doesn't stop me worrying." Biting her lip, abby turned back and watched as Abby lifted the strange black contraption up and peered at it. "Can you see how to work it?"

"You've got to be jokin'. I can barely see my hand in front of my face in this light. I hope Stephen thinks to bring a torch back with him."

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Once again his knife came in handy to slit the canvas wall. As stealthily as he knew how, he entered the medical tent and approached the orderly hunched over his desk. A quick blow to the base of the man's skull, with the hilt of his knife, left the way clear for him to enter the cubicle where his counterpart from another time lay.

"You took your time," stephen grinned from the depths of his bed as his healthier twin entered.

"Had my hands full with some rather vicious predators." Stephen replied shortly, helping the wounded man up off the bed and hooking his arm over his shoulder.

"I can walk you know," stephen told him, shaking off the supporting arm.

"Thought you might be faking. Just as well, you wouldn't have stood a chance against the Torvosaurus."

"Bloody hell!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I was lucky to get out with my skin intact."

"Then that's not your blood?"

Stephen looked down at himself and grimaced. "No. Several donors including Massey."

Together they slid through the cut in the tent wall and, bent low, ran through the shadows to reach the trees and cover. Once there, they both crouched down.

"What's the plan?" stephen asked, wincing a little as he flexed his shoulder. His face was several shakes of green and yellow, his eye still swollen, but starting to heal.

"The girls are on the other side. I managed to snag a black box. If we can get it to work, we're on our way out of here."

"If?"

"Well, have you seen how to work one, 'cos I haven't."

"Nope. Only from a distance."

"Damn. I was hoping you'd know more than I did."

A voice suddenly called a name and both men stood up to stare back at the camp.

"Stephen...Stephen Hart. I know you are out there...give yourselves up." Massey's amplified voice echoed around the camp above the noise of the generators powering the lights.

"What the fuck!" Stephen cursed, jogging off to the left to get a clearer view of the center of the camp. His counterpart followed, both men keep low until they reached a vantage point, a small ridge that allowed them to see over the tents to the gathering of men in the middle.

" He knows we both here...how?" the answer to that question came in the form of two struggling figures held firmly in the grip of four guards, the unmistakable tousled blond heads looking bright under the artificial lights.

"Stephen Hart..." Massey's voice boomed out. "As you see, we have your companions once more. Give yourselves up and they won't be harmed." He waved the guards forward, the two Abby's struggling against the hands holding them. With a sudden twist, one of the girls got free, kicking out at the guards before turning tail and sprinting across the compound. The other Abby screamed after her to run, but all too soon she was caught, brought to the ground in a teeth rattling tackle. Again abby fought hard, but her fists and feet couldn't stop the men securing her arms at her side, a quick punch to the jaw rendering her stunned long enough for her to be dragged back to Massey.

The two men watching both wanted to race down and pummel the men manhandling the girls, but both also knew that to give up now would render all the pain and injury suffered for nothing.

"Bastard," hissed Stephen, turning his back on the scene below to try and think clearly. His companion remained turned towards the camp, watching the drama below and racking his brains for a solution.

Massey's voice boomed out from below, the megaphone crackling as he called again. "I'm losing my patience gentlemen. You have one minute to put in an appearance, or one of these young ladies will suffer the consequences."

Stephen swung back to stare bleakly at the camp below. "Nothing we can do, but what he says."

"Look...surely we can..." stephen started to say, only to have his suggestion cut off by the sound of gunfire. In horror both men looked down at the camp, sure that Massey had decided to anticipate the time limit. Instead they saw several of Massey's men laying on the ground and chaos as the others tried to find cover. From the woods to the south appeared a force of black clad special ops, blending in perfectly with the shadows, while Massey and his men were clearly illuminated by the spotlights around the tents.

Massey was backing towards his tent, the bullhorn forgotten on the ground, the guards pulling the two women with them, using them as shield from the advancing special forces attacking the camp.

"Come on...we have to get those girls free!" Together, the two Stephens hurried down the slope to the line of tents at right angles to the advancing special ops. Dodging between the tents, they circled to the north to put as much distance between them and the gun battle, as well as follow Massey and his bodyguards. Stephen pulled out the gun he had, promising himself that if Abby was hurt in any way, one of the remaining bullets had Massey's name on it.

The black garbed special ops were quickly subduing the remaining guards, leaving just Massey and his personal guards and the two captives. The two Stephens split up and approached Massey from in front and behind.

"Massey! Let them go!" Stephen stepped in Massey's path, his gun trained on the leader, hoping that the girls would keep their guards too busy to draw their own weapons.

"So, you show yourself at last. What happened to the others? We found one of the guards dead..."

"The other Massey didn't make it, nor did most of the men to sent on that suicidal hunt."

"But you did. You always were the best Mister Hart, no one ever came close to you." Massey grinned and raised him arm, the silver gun in his hand glinting in the flood lights, Stephen barely able to react before the gun exploded, the shot taking him in the shoulder and spinning him around, his own gun dropping from his nerveless fingers.

The two Abby's froze in horror for a second before they both rounded on their equally surprised guards, the two men suddenly holding armfuls of spitting hell cats that scratched and screamed at them. One of the guards pulled his hand gun but didn't get a chance to fire it, a bullet taking him high in the chest and dropping him to the ground. Abby staggered clear, pulling the other girl away as Massey swung around to take aim at them. The second man ended up collecting the shot intended for one of the Abby's in the throat, his horrible gurgles spurring the girls to run to the nearest tree for cover.

Suddenly stephen was there, a rifle held to his shoulder as he took aim at Massey, his first bullet taking out the gun in the man's hand, before the second hit high on the chest, Massey clutching at his shirt front in surprise before dropping like a stone to the ground. Blood bloomed over the front of his body, his lifeless eyes staring up at the flood lights illuminating the scene with a ghastly clarity.

Suddenly all the gunfire had stopped and they were surrounded by the special forces, the hunting rifle taken from stephen's slack hand without protest. The two Abby's split up and ran to their respective Stephen's, the black uniformed special ops not stopping them.

"Stephen!" abby dropped to her knees beside him and cupped his face in her hands. His eyes were shut, but when she called his name again, the lashes fluttered open and he peered up at her, pain obvious in their blue depths.

"Massey?" he croaked.

"Dead. Don't move Stephen...oh God, there's blood everywhere..."

"Not all mine..." Stephen tried to reassure her, groaning when one of the soldiers knelt down and pressed a wad of gauze to the gaping bullet hole in his shoulder.

"He'll be alright miss. Give us your hand mate, we'll get that patched up..." Stephen accepted the help of the special ops soldier gratefully. Back on his feet, he found abby plastered to his uninjured side, uncaring of the muck and blood still coating him. If he was completely honest, having her there took his mind off the pain pulsating in his shoulder and down his arm. Together, the three made their way back into camp and headed for the medical tent, leaving the other couple behind, still surrounded by soldiers dressed in black.

One of the soldiers was crouched next to Massey, checking his pulse, despite the obvious evidence that the man was stone dead. A little way off, Abby and stephen stood wrapped in each others arms, too grateful to be alive and together, to worry about the interested audience around them.

"It's over...isn't it?" Abby asked, her voice muffled against stephen's chest.

"Yes love...it's over."

Abby pulled back a little and peered up into his face. "What did you call me?"

"I said...it's over," stephen teased, bending his head to capture her mouth, but Abby jerked her head to thwart him.

"Wait a second...did you say you love me?" her voice ended on a squeak, her eyes wide. stephen glanced around at the soldiers still surrounding them, then back down in her face.

"Something along those line...do you mind?" he tried to look serious, his battered face lending him a piratical look when he tried to raise one black eyebrow.

"Gawd no...I just didn't think...I mean, well..." she could feel her face heating up and blurted out the next words in a rush. "I love you too!" before burying her face once more against his shirt.

"Then every thing's sweet." stephen ducked his head and kissed the side of her head, nuzzling his cheek against her hair and sighing deeply. At length, Abby raised her head and he took the opportunity to seal his declaration with a kiss that made the toes curl in Abby's boots.

"Ahem...ur...Sir?" the gruff voice of one of the soldiers drew the lovers apart. "Sorry to interrupt Sir, but we need to get you and the others back through the anomaly. We've encountered a problem with them staying open any length of time, so if we could just move..."

"You know how to work the black boxes?" stephen asked, the soldier nodding.

"Works like a charm. This is the fifth camp my squad have hit in the last twenty four hours. Each time we clear it out then shut down the anomaly, but its getting harder and harder each time."

"Then let's get moving. I don't think any of us want to remain here a second longer than necessary."

Keeping an arm firmly around Abby's waist, stephen led them back into the camp, the captured Rhino corp employees now standing with their hands on their heads, under guard by the special forces men.

Stephen appeared from the medical tent, his arm similarly encasing an unresisting abby, his arm now held in a sling to prevent jarring his shoulder.

"So now we go home?" stephen asked, the two couples following the group of prisoner as they were led out of the camp towards a sparkling anomaly visible between two trees.

"Yeah, but which home." Abby muttered, exchanging a loaded glance with the other abby.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz

It took three trips through the anomalies to finally reach home, the group of Rhino employees shepherded through each one until they all arrived at their final destination. They were faced by a small army of personnel, the prisoners taken away, leaving behind the two young couples looking the worse for wear.

Lester stepped forward and looked the two pairs of twins over with a long, considering stare.

"Welcome back...all of you. As you will understand, we need to debrief you on what's been happening, as well as take blood samples to determine who belongs here and who doesn't. In the meantime, go with this orderly and they'll make a start on the preliminaries."

A young man in civvies stepped forward but both couples ignored him at first.

"We won't be split up," stephen announced after exchanging a look with his twin. Stephen nodded when Lester looked at him to see if he agreed.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Lester replied smoothly, "but you do realise that in all probability, you are all from different times and will have to come to some decision about the future. We really can't have two of everyone running about the place – very messy. The paper work alone would take years to sort out."

The two Stephen's exchanged another look, before turning two pairs of very intense blue eyes on the Home Office official. Lester held up his hands as if in surrender.

"All right...no splitting up, and no decisions until we have this all sorted out."

Visible, the two younger men relaxed and made to go with the orderly.

"Has Nick returned?" Abby asked, the other girl also hanging back to hear the answer.

"How do you think we managed to co-ordinate all this," Lester waved a hand at the activity going on around them. "All this is directly related to his return."

"And Helen?" Stephen asked, "did she come back with Cutter?"

Lester hesitated, then plastered his best Home Office face on. "We'll catch up with everything you've missed in the debriefing. I'm sure you must all want to take a shower and freshen up, as well as have something to eat and drink. We'll meet a little later...now hurry along, the medics are just dying to get their hands on you." Lester made shooing motions and reluctantly, the two couples followed the orderly, Abby glancing back at Lester with a very suspicious look on her bruised face.

Only after they had disappeared behind the forest of tents set up around the anomaly, did Lester relax his shoulders and drag a hand over his face.

"Sometimes I really wish I'd stayed in middle management...life was so less complicated back then." Giving himself a shake, he cast a last glance at the shimmering anomaly before turning on his Italian leather heel and walking towards the government car waiting to return him to London.

At least the rescue had gone without a hitch, so he did have something positive to report.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

tbc...


	27. Terminal Light Finale

2/02/08

Title: Terminal Light2

Author: squeezynz

Author's Note: all set in AR2.

Update on pairings:

AR1Stephen is with AR2abby

AR2stephen is with AR1Abby

AR3Cutter misses AR3Claudia Brown but is very fond of AR2Claudia as well

AR2 Cutter is getting to know AR1Claudia Marsden

AR3Helen is dead, AR2Helen is off in South America somewhere and AR1Helen is somewhere or possibly morphed into AR3Helen among the anomalies...

AR1Captain Ryan is dead by Future Predator, AR2Captain Ryan is hale and hearty

Lester is in all alternative realities and a pain in the butt as usual.

Connor is in all alternative realities and not currently paired up with anyone, although he did a nice job tracking down Alex Massey in AR1 as well as using the recently discovered Rhino corp ARC. Also he helped develop the ADA (anomaly detection array) in AR2 which, combined with his counterpart enabled the rescue of the Abby's and Stephen's from AR5.

Okay...well, if you're still confused...I can't help you. I'll be posting an updated timeline guide after this chapter, so read that if you want to sort it all out.

Last thing to remember...all AR1 characters have Capitals at the start of their names. All AR2 are lower case. Nick Cutter, being technically AR3 is also in Capitals.

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Connor stared out at all the people in the room and wondered for a moment if he wasn't having an 'Alice in Wonderland' moment. It was bad enough trying to get his head around the whole anomaly problem without having a graphic example of the potential side effects parading in front of his eyes.

"Messes with ya head, doesn't it?" a strangely familiar voice remarked before plonking himself down in one of the hard plastic chairs.

"I keep expecting a white rabbit to pop up at any moment and announce he's late."

Connor glanced to his right and met his own eyes dancing with laughter. It was bad enough to see doubles of everyone he'd only just got to know, but to see yourself sitting next to you was just downright psycho.

"How do you think they're going to sort all this out?" Connor asked his twin, the other connor shrugging his shoulders and taking a gulp of whatever he was drinking from a styrofoam cup.

The last few days had been hectic and confusing and only now was the picture coming close to any clarity. The culmination of surprises was when a second Stephen and abby had appeared through the anomaly, bold as brass, followed closely by the same couple, but in reverse from his own time.

He shook his head in defeat, he was never going to sort it all out in his own head, let alone explain it to anyone else. Across the room, he saw one of the Stephen's loop an arm around an abby and pull her in close, a stab of regret making Connor wince and turn away. He'd built up pipe dreams and air castles ever since he'd first clapped eyes on the petite blonde, but he had to acknowledge that he'd never really stood a chance against the force of nature that was Stephen Hart once abby lost her heart to him.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" his twin broke into his thoughts, nudging him with a sharp elbow. "I haven't known her as long as you, of course, but I'd have ranked her up there with the best." He gave a theatrical sigh. "You don't suppose there might be a girl out there that isn't in love with him as soon as she claps eyes on him?"

The two connor's exchanged a look, both rueful and amused.

"Ngah!" they both chorused at the same time, then burst out laughing, making several heads turn in their direction, which only made them chortle louder.

Connor rose to his feet and held a hand out to his counterpart. "Come on, I can't stand this much more...how about we find something less PG and start a discussion about Superheroes?"

Using his twin to hoist himself upright, connor grinned and clapped his new friend on the back. "I couldn't have put it better myself...leave this lot to sort out the details. Predator versus Terminator – who really comes from the future?"

"You've got to be kidding...directors cut or original?"

Together, the two young men wandered off to find a less crowded corner to continue the discussion.

"Do I need to send a security guard after him?" Lester drawled, sipping from his glass as he followed the two Connor's progress through the room.

Cutter followed his gaze and smiled indulgently. "Given what both those young men have accomplished in difficult circumstances and record time, I think we can cut them some slack."

"Yes. He appears to be a minor genius in whatever time he's in. Bonus for us."

"Indeed. For us all."

"So what now Professor? The Massey situation is well under control..."

"In our time at least," Cutter interrupted.

"True. But I think we can say that at this time, that's the most we can hope for...until new evidence comes to light, so to speak."

"Who knows what damage that man did to our history, to the past."

"Obviously not as much as you fear, Professor. We're all still here, history hasn't been changed in either reality, as far as we can tell, despite the meddling."

"As far as we can tell," Cutter repeated, his expression grim. "We're hardly started to understand what it's all about to allow for complacency. Even you must realise there could be implications we just don't know about...changes that we don't even realise are there..."

"We've made a start, so be content with that." Lester turned slightly away, ending that line of conversation. "We really should concentrate on the problem at hand..."

"Which is?" Nick asked, curbing the desire to snarl.

Lester waved at the room full of people, several of them duplicates of themselves. "You don't consider this a problem?"

"Depends on your point of view. You said yourself, you promised you wouldn't split them up."

"Under duress." Lester ground out, glaring at the back of one couple before flicking his gaze back down at his drink. "We can't have umpteen identical pairs of people running around our time line. They have their own lives, in their own times."

"Not to mention the problem of me being out of both times and no clue how to return to my own."

"Yes. Well. There is that too." Lester had the grace to look abashed. "Is there nothing in what Helen told you to help?"

"Nothing so far, and nothing unearthed at any of the camps. It seems I'm an aberration." Cutter met Lester's sympathetic gaze and quickly looked away. "I seem doomed to spend the rest of my life in another man's shoes."

Lester glanced over at one of the Claudia's and his mouth quirked up in a half smile. "You weren't exactly slow in taking advantage of one aspect of your new life."

Cutter's glare quickly wiped the smirk off the Home Office man's face. "I lost her once, I'm not going to lose her again."

"Even if the one from your time walks through an anomaly sometime in the future?"

"For all I know, she's ceased to exist in my time...or maybe she's still waiting for me...I don't know." Cutter closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, a bleak light in their blue depths.

"Yes. Well. Not really something I should worry about, if I was you. Soon, there'll be only one anomaly open, the one between ours and there's. Once the transfers are complete, both will be shut down and the problem solved."

"You hope."

"You said so yourself, and confirmed it with Connor. Once the two linked anomalies are shut down, the whole anomaly situation is no longer a problem. Isn't that the truth?"

Cutter laughed. "Would you know the truth?"

Lester smiled smugly. "If you say so Professor...it must be the truth." Peering into his cup, Lester waggled it in Cutters direction then sauntered off to get a refill.

Nick stared around the room and wondered how indeed they were going to sort out what everyone was going to do.

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Stephen pulled abby into his side and kissed the top of her head.

"Hard to believe it's all over."

Leaning her head into his shoulder, abby nodded her agreement. She was looking across at the other couple at one of the tables, the stephen from her own time laughing down into the flushed face of the Abby, that girl from the same time as man currently holding her.

"Is it really over? I mean, I know they're shutting down Massey's operation and everything, but are you sure you don't want to go back...with her?"

"Listen...we've talked, you know that. Me and Abby...she's content with her stephen, as I'm content...more than content to stay here with you. That's if you want me to?"

She bit her lip, feeling his arm tighten about her and taking comfort from that. "It's just...you're giving up your life, everything you know to make a place in this world...it just seems so much to ask."

Stephen said nothing for a moment, then, his arm still around her shoulders, steered them both towards the door leading into the corridor. Concerned, but not unduly alarmed, abby deposited her cup on a table as they passed it and let him lead her outside. Almost before the door had swung shut she was pinned up against the wall, his arms bracketing her head and his mouth finding hers in a kiss designed to burn away any doubts she had of his sincerity. Minutes later they pulled apart and stared at each other.

"Does that convince you? Because if it doesn't...we'll need some privacy for what I have in mind to do next."

Unable to stop herself, abby giggled, the mirth quickly escalating until they were both leaning against the other to stop themselves falling to the floor in hysterics. Getting her breath back first, abby cupped Stephen's face and kissed him, pulling back quickly and holding his gaze.

"You'll bust open your stitches if you're not careful." She leant forward and kissed him hungrily before drawing away again. "We need to find Lester and convince him. The sooner we settle this, the sooner I can get you where I want you."

"I like a woman who knows what she wants. I think I saw Lester at the drinks table. Come on."

Enclosing her hand in his, Stephen pulled her back through the conference room door and headed across the room to where Lester stood talking to Claudia Brown.

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Abby watched her twin being hauled across the room with the biggest grin curving her mouth, and surmised correctly that something was up. Her stephen was just approaching from refiling their cups, his eyes only for her across the room. A warm glow spiraled inside her and she returned his smile. He still looked somewhat battered, but it didn't alter one whit how she felt about him.

"Here you go. What's the smile for?"

"I think the other pair are making sure that Lester is left in no doubt of their intentions." Abby pointed across the room and stephen followed the direction she indicated.

"You're probably right. When I get something fixed in my mind, I usually act on it." He sipped his drink, resolutely turning his back on the room and blocking Abby's view. "Look, I want to ask you something..."

Abby took a fortifying sip before giving him her undivided attention. "What is it?"

"I know we haven't known each other very long – hardly at all, when you think about it..."

"But stephen..." Abby tried to interrupt but found his hand over her mouth.

"Please, let me finish." He arched a brow and waited for her to nod before removing his hand.

"I wanted to ask you if you think we have a chance?"

Abby looked at him, her eyes wide but her lips pressed firmly together, waiting for him to continue.

Glancing down at his feet, he put his own glass down, removed her drink to safety then took both her hands in his. "I want us to have a chance Abby, I want to find out what loving a wonderful woman like you is like. I want to wake up and have you beside me, to eat meals with you, watch movies...the whole deal."

Abby continued to stare up at him, her eyes now luminous, her lips curved into a smile. He waited expectantly, but when she didn't say anything, he rolled his eyes at her. "You can speak now!"

"Oh good...yes."

"Yes?"

"To everything."

"Everything?" His grin lit up his face, his eyes a brighter blue than she'd ever seen before.

"Everything."

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Lester had only just sent the first couple on their way, when the second bore down on him, a clear purpose in their eyes.

"Here we go again," he groaned to himself before pinning a suitably diplomatic expression.

"We have something we need to discuss," stephen started to say, only to have Lester hold up his hand and give them both a world weary smile.

"The answer is yes to whatever it is. The other pair have already made it clear they want to stay here – together. I suppose you both want to go back to your time," he looked at Abby, "and take up your lives there."

"Well..." stephen and Abby exchanged a glance. "Yes."

"Then I suggest you collect your colleague from wherever he's hiding out with the other one, and get yourselves back to the anomaly site. The quicker we get this sorted, the quicker we can shut it all down and get back to our own lives."

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The flickering light, combined with the floodlights made long, multiple shadows around the people standing off to the side. Black ops soldiers stood at the ready beside nearly every tree, their guns held loosely in front of them.

Abby and stephen were saying their last goodbyes to their rescuers and former cell mates. The two Abby's were embracing before stepping back to stand beside their respective partners. The two Connor's were still debating the relative merits of their comic book passions, needing to be almost forcibly separated before Connor would wave goodbye. He held the contraption that would guide them back to their original timeline, back to where another, different nick cutter and Claudia Marsden waited to receive them.

Lester stood beside Nick, who was staying behind. Both men watched the farewells with mixed emotions. Quietly stepping up beside Nick, claudia slid her hand into his, his fingers grasping hers with a mixture of relief and desperation.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with them?" she whispered in Nick's ear.

"Nah. They already have a Nick Cutter to go home too. Get too cluttered having both of us there."

"Good."

Nick looked sideways at her, noting her resolute profile, her eyes staring straight ahead. "Good?"

Slowly, claudia turned to face him. "I'm not prepared to let you go now Professor. You've started something, and I intend to make sure you see it through."

Nick laughed, his eyes dancing. "You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"I'll hold you to that my girl. See if I don't."

"Looking forward to it." claudia gave him a slow smile that set his pulse hammering.

Abby swallowed hard. It had been surprisingly difficult saying goodbye to herself and watch her sister, as she thought of her twin, walking off with Stephen's arm about the girls waist. Her own stephen was standing at her side, a tall reassuring presence that she was already relying on for comfort and support. Seeking his hand she laced her fingers with his and squeezed.

"Ready?" He asked, smiling down at her.

"Are you?"

"To follow you anywhere? Yeah."

"Last chance to change your mind?" Abby quipped, her eyes suspiciously bright and apprehensive. His smile didn't falter.

"Never. Let's go. I want to pick up where we left off and make that coffee you came back for."

"How about," she tilted her head back and gave him a loaded look. "We skip the coffee and just pick up where we left off before we went to the restaurant"

"Yeah...sounds like a plan."

Connor was positively hopping about on one foot, the gadget in his hand giving off loud beeping noises like a metal detector hitting a gold mine.

"We need to go now, every thing's set." He gesture to the anomaly, starting to walk towards it with Abby and stephen a step behind him. A final glance back and a wave and they were gone, the black ops not relaxing their stance until the anomaly blinked out of existence.

For a second no-one moved, then the soldiers started to move away, Lester turning his back as well, soon followed by connor.

Nick and claudia stayed a moment longer, staring at the space where the fractured rift had drifted only moments before.

"So that's the end of it," claudia sighed, leaning her head against Nick's shoulder. "No more anomalies."

"No. Lester seems to think they were entirely a construct of Massey, and with his technology now in the hands of the good guys, no longer a threat."

Lifting her head off his shoulder, claudia regarded Nick with a frowning look. "But you don't believe that?"

"I believe," Nick turned to look at her. "I believe that there is more in heaven and earth, Horatio, than we are ever likely to know or understand." He turned back to look at the surrounding area, then turned away, claudia following him, hands still entwined, back to the car waiting to take them back to London and their new life together.

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Epilogue: still AR2, several months later.

The sun beat down on the bare rock and sent shimmers of heat waves up into the warm summer air. Tussock clumped among the rocks gave way to grass further down. In a crevice, in a dark shadow, a small, glittering rift appeared. A pinpoint to start with, then growing big enough to allow an agile, green winged lizard to slip through, the creature chirruping to itself as it trotted out of the shadow between the rocks and lifted it's head to taste the air. As if satisfied that the air was breathable, it spread its broad wings and wiggled it's tail. With a final chirrup, the lizard ran a few feet before a gust of wind caught its outspread wings and lifted it off the ground to sail like a bird down the slope, gaining altitude and riding the thermals, its bright eyes already on the alert for any possible insect meal borne on the wind. The sweet scent of fruit drew it towards a small housing estate bordered by the forest of Dean. Banking and gliding the green skinned lizard flew among the trees, skimming over the ground until it spotted the berry rich bushes. So intent was the creature on the berries it never noticed the young boy kicking up leaves, the two almost colliding when the lizard finally realised the danger and swooped over the boys head, alighting on the ground and chirruping it's anger at the rash behaviour of the animal it had so narrowly missed.

Ben stared round eyed at the lizard and crouched down, reaching out his hand. "Hello...you're a lovely looking lizard...where have you come from?"

Cocking its head to the side, the lizard only chirruped in reply, raising the crest on its head to warn the animal that he was not to be messed with.

Ben smiled appreciatively and sat on his haunches. "You're beautiful. I think I'll call you Rex..."

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end of Hard Light.


End file.
